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BOTANY, 



183 



clusters. Fructiferous "bracts pedicellate^ sul)orbicular, the margin acutely and often irregularly 

 toothedj disk nakedj or sometimes cristate witli foliaceous appendages. 



Obione CONFER! ifolia^, Tott, & Fvem. in Frem, 2d Rep. p. 318. Mountains near Laguna de 

 Santa Maria, Chihuahua, April ; Bigeloio, Only the male plant was collected. 



Obione radtata (n. sp.) : caule erecto? herbaceo ramoso, ramis inermibus ; foliis obovato- 

 ohlongis obtusissimis mucronulatis membranaceis integerrimis vel obsolete repando-dentatis basi 

 attenuatis utriuijue lepidotis canescentibus ; glomerulis fa^mineis axillaribus ; bracteis eessilibus 

 orbiculatis infra mediamcoalitismargine radiatim denticulatis, disco inappendiculato carinulato. 



May 



Stem apparently annual and about a span long ; 



the branches flexuous. 



Leaves 8-12 lines long and 3-5 lines broad. 



Male 



terminal spikes ; female flowers in small axillary clusters. Fructiferous bracts almost exactly 

 orbicular^ very flat^ 1| line in diameter, neatly cut around the margin into very short acute 

 teeth, the disk marked with a central, longitudinal, slightly prominent keel. We cannot 

 identify this plant w^ith any of the species of Obione described by Moquin ; it is most nearly 



■ 



related to the following : 



Obione elegans, 3Ioq. Z. c. p. 113, var. ? radiata. Rio Sta. Murin, Chihuahua, August; 

 Tliurher. Western Texas, (No. 571 and 1743.) We are not confident as to our determination 

 of this plant. Our specimens are certainly annual ; the leaves are rather obtuse than acute; 

 the fructiferous bracts are scarcely pedicellate and they are united to the middle. The margin 

 is cut into strong acute radiating teeth. 



Obione ELEGANS, var.? tuberculosa; foliis repando-denticulatis; bracteis orbiculatis, margine 



dentatis, disco tumido cartilagineo medio tuberculoso-dentatis. Western 



Wriglit. Plant 



about a foot high, apparently annual. Differs from the last, chiefly in the tumid fructiferous 

 bracts, the disks of which, on each side of the 



each side of the median line, are furnished with 2-3 acute 

 tubercles, 



Obione acanthocarpa (n. sp.) : caule sufi^ructicoso erecto ramoso, ramis subteretibus iner- 

 mibus ; foliis deltoideo-lanceolatis spathulatisve integris vel repando-dentatis densissime lepidotis 

 incanis floribus dioicis ; glomerulis interrupte spicatis, spicis masculis paniculatis terminalibus ; 

 bracteis demum ultra medium in thecam sessilem subglobosam suhcartilagineam undique 

 spinosam coalitis. Plains between the Burro mountains; September, Bigeloiv^ (in fruit.) On 

 the Eio Grande, helow Presidio del Norte ; Parry. Near the Piloncilla, Sonera, September; 

 Thurher. (No. 1739 ; Wright. His No. 1737 seems to be a slender form of the same.) Plant 

 1-2 feet high, much branching from the ground. Leaves somewhat persistent, ahout an inch 

 long, often somewhat hastate at the base, usually somewhat repand-dentate or denticulate. 

 Fertile flowers glomerate in the upper axils, forming a kind of leafy panicle. Male spikes panicu- 

 late, nearly naked. Fructiferous bracts indurated, covered with long flat or compressed rigid 

 processes which resemhle spines. Near Fort Yuma, California, Major Thomas collected an 

 Obione which appears to be a variety of this species. 

 feet. The leaves are deltoid-ovate, very obtuse and somewhat undulate. Only the male plant 

 was found. It is the same as 0. Barclayana of Durand and Hilgard's Report of Williamson's 

 Expedition, but apparently not of Bentham. 



Obione canescens, Moq. in BG. Prodr. \%^pars 2yp. 212. Abundant at the foot of San Diego 

 Bay, California ; Parry. Valley of the Rio Grande, from El Paso to Eagle Pass ; also on the 

 Grila. (No. 1740 and 1741, Wright.) A variety with smaller, ovate or ohovate leaves was 

 found on the Burro mountains by Br, Bigelow; and on the Gila by 3Jr. Thurher. It is the same 



It sometimes attains the height of 6-10 



