CATALOGUE. 233 



AMARANTACE^E. 



Gossypianthus* rigidiflorus, Hook. — Stem prostrate, diffusely 

 branched ; cauline leaves secund, 2-4" long, 1-2" wide, acute, tapering 

 to a rather broad base ; flowers in axillary clusters ; sepals membranous ; 

 filaments a little longer than the oblong anthers; stigma 2-lobed — Camp 

 Bowie, Arizona, on limestone soil (507). Whole head of flowers densely 

 covered with long cottony hairs, which, under a low-powered objective, are 

 found to be transparent, jointed, and slightly swollen at the proximal side 

 of the joint on account of the granular matter which accumulates there. 



Alternanthera lanuginosa, Torr. — Arizona (557). Apparently an 

 excessively variable plant, so far as my imperfect specimens enable me to 

 decide. 



Nitrophila occidentalis, Watson (Banalia, Moq.). — Nevada. 



Gomphrena nitida. — Erect, 6-14' high, branching from the axils; 

 branches sometimes nearly as long as the main stem ; stem and branches 

 somewhat silky-hairy; leaves oblong-spatulate, 1-3' long, 4-8" wide, 

 obtuse, mucronulate, cinereous, somewhat silky (younger ones densely so, 

 and under an inch objective the hairs are seen to be beautifully jointed) ; 

 heads sessile or nearly so, pearly-white (no trace of red), subtended by 

 two (or more) large leaves; bracts membranous, usually somewhat lacerate- 

 toothed or crested on the back, broadly lanceolate, tapering into a very 

 acute point ; sepals very acute, membranous, abundantly hairy below and 

 outside, somewhat shorter than the bracts ; stamine'al tube united to the top, 

 middle lobe of the filament nearly obsolete, anthers oblong ; style three- 

 fourths as long as the tube. — Chiricahua Mountains, in Southern Arizona, 

 on rocky knolls (520). The hair on the back of the sepals is (under a 

 moderate power) seen to be quite long comparatively, and with the peculiar 



* GossyriANTHUS, Hook. — Flowers hermaphrodite [2-3-bracted]. Calyx of 5 erect, subequal, 

 very villose sepals. Stamens 5, free. Filaments subulate. Anthers uuilocular, ovate. Single-celled 

 ovary with one ovule. Style very short, roundish. Stigma ernarginate, 2-3-lobed. Single-seeded utricle 

 ovate, valveless, included iu the calyx. Seed vertical, ovate-lenticular, sub-reniform ; testa crustaceous. 

 Embryo coiled around the central, farinaceous albumen ; radicle ascending.— North American perennial 

 herbs, with procumbent, flexuose, woolly stems. Radical leaves petioled or sub-sessile, obovate or elou- 

 gated-spathulate, rigid, sub-coriaceous ; cauline opposite, sessile, much smaller, ovate, entire, more or less 

 silky-woolly. Flowers axillary, densely aggregated, covered with copious flexuose wool, the deciduous, 

 delicate bracts keeled and concave. — Moquin, DC. Prod. 13, pars 2, p. 337. 



