Se aries ed ae ey : aS 
ee + a= i 
[ita J + ~~ 318 aie" 
of a salt lake in lat. 38° and long, 113°; and constantly occurs in the desert 
region south of the Columbia, and belileen the Cascade range and the 
Rocky mountains, as far south as lat. 34°. The branches, when old, be- 
come spiny, as in many other plants of this family. 
Since the description of this genus was published in the first report, 
’ (March, 1843,) Nees has given it the name of Sarcopatus; and Dr. Seu-— 
__ bert has published an account of it, with = figore; in the Botanische Zei- 
tung for 1844. This we have not vet seen; but, from the remarks of Dr. 
Lindley, who has given a note on the genus in Hooker’s Journal of Botany 
for January, 1845, it would seem that some doubt existed among European 
botanists as to its affinities, as they had not seen the ripe seeds. These we 
have long possessed, and unhesitatingly referred it to Chenopodiacie. We 
regret that our sketches of the staminate flowers were mislaid when the 
' artist was engraving the figure. ss ‘ 
¥ 
OBIONE CONFERTIFOLIA. Torr. and Frém. 
Stem pubescent, much branched, erect; leaves alternate, ovate, rather 
; obtuse, petiolate, much crowded, entire, somewhat coriaceous, white with | 
‘ a mealy crust; bracts broadly ovate, obtuse, entire, and the sides without 
‘appendages or tubercles, 
_~ Asmali shrub, with rigid crooked and somewhat spinescent branches, 
_ © and of a whitish aspect. Leaves varying from one-third to half an inch in 
' _ length, abruptly narrowed at the base into a petiole, thickly clothed witha 
» white mealy substance.. ~ 
“i Flowers apparently diecious. Sterile not seen. » Bracts of the fruit 3—4 
lines long, walle Sheet half way up, distinct above, indurated at the base. 
3 Styles distinct. “Pericarp very thin. Seed roundish-ovate, rostellate up- 
a ard; the testa coriaceous. Embryo two-thirds of a circle. i 
| * On the borders of the Great Salt lake. From the description of O. cori- 
“ acea, Moq-, our plant seems to be a near ally of that species. . 
Prerocuiron. Torr. and Frim.—n. gen. 
Flowers diwcious. Staminate SS" Propirs age. Perigonium 
, ovoid-tubular, 4-winged, 2-toothed at the summit. Ovary roundish ; style 
short; stigmas 2, linear. Ovule solitary, ascending from the base of the 
ig ovary, campulitropous. se utuerous perianth indurated, broadly 4-wi 
ime 
d, minutely 2-toothed at the summit; the wings veined and irregularly 
| oe 7 4 Diliels very ee Spee _ Seed ofate, some- 
ee 
nbranaceous, free. $ 
vteral and ver tinct, rostra’ 
¢ 
: nches, 
mooth bark. Leaves Siietae 
vered 
mit. 
