AMARANTHACEAE. 377 



salty.] About 50 species, of wide geographic distribution on seashores and in 

 saline districts, occasionally pernicious weeds in cultivated grounds. 



Calyx coriaceous, not conspicuously veined ; plant maritime. 1. S. Kali. 



Calyx membranous, very strongly veined ; plant an inland weed. 2. S. Tragus. 



1. Salsola Kali L. Saltwort. (I. F. f. 1396.) Annual, loosely much 

 branched, 3-6 dm. high, the branches ascending or spreading, mostly stout. Leaves 

 dull green or grayish, 6-20 mm. long, succulent, lanceolate-subulate, swollen at 

 the base, the midvein excurrent into a stout yellowish green prickle ; flowers 

 solitary in the axils ; wing of the persistent calyx nearly orbicular, lobed, becoming 

 lacerate, not conspicuously veined, 4-8 mm. in diameter ; calyx coriaceous, not 

 conspicuously veined, its wing not longer than the ascending lobe. On sea beaches, 

 Cape Breton Island to Florida. Also in Europe and Asia. July-Sept. 



2. Salsola Tragus L. Russian Thistle. (I. F. f. 1397.) Similar to the 

 preceding, but bushy branched, the branches usually slender. Leaves and outer 

 branches usually bright red at maturity ; leaves not noticeably swollen at the base, 

 linear, prickle-tipped, less fleshy ; calyx membranous, conspicuously veiny, its 

 wing longer than the ascending lobe. In cultivated fields and waste places, N. J. 

 to Ont., the N. W. Terr, and Kans. A very troublesome weed in many parts of 

 the Central and Western States. Naturalized from northern Europe or Asia. 

 July-Sept. 



Family 2. AMARANTHACEAE J. St. Hil. 



Afnaranth Family. 

 Herbs, some exotic genera low shrubs, with simple mostly entire thin 

 leaves. Flowers small, green or white, bracteolate, variously clustered, 

 usually in terminal spikes or axillary heads. Petals none. Calyx her- 

 baceous or membranous, 2-5-parted, the segments distinct, or united at 

 the base, equal, or the inner ones smaller. Stamens 1-5, mostly 

 opposite the calyx-segments, hypogynous ; filaments distinct, united at 

 the base, or into a tube. Ovary 1 -celled ; ovule solitary in the following 

 genera, amphitropous (several in some tropical genera); stigmas 1-3. 

 Fruit a utricle, circumscissile, bursting irregularly, or indehiscent, 

 1 -seeded in our genera. Seed mostly smooth; embryo annular; en- 

 dosperm mealy, usually copious. About 40 genera and 425 species, 

 widely distributed, most abundant in warm regions. 



Anthers 2-celled ; leaves alternate. 



Calyx 5-parted or of 5 sepals. 1. Amaranthus. 



Calyx of the pistillate flowers wanting. 2. Acnida. 



Anthers i-celled ; leaves opposite. 



Flowers in small axilliary clusters. 3. Cladothrix. 



Flowers variously spicate or paniculate. 



Calyx 5-cleft ; filaments united into a tube. 4. Froelichia. 



Calyx 5-parted ; filaments united at the base. 5. Iresine. 



1. AMARANTHUS L. 

 Annual branched erect or diffusely spreading glabrous or pubescent herbs, with 

 petioled pinnately veined leaves and small monoecious polygamous or dioecious 

 green or purplish mostly 3-bracteolate flowers in dense terminal spikes or axillary 

 clusters. Calyx of 2-5 distinct sepals. Stamens 2-5 ; anthers longitudinally 

 dehiscent. Styles or stigmas 2 or 3. Fruit an ovoid or oblong utricle, 2-3-beaked 

 by the persistent styles. Embryo annular. [Greek, unfading flower, from the 

 dry, unwithering bracts.] About 50 species of wide geographic distribution. 

 Besides the following some 22 others occur in the southern and western U. S. 



Utricle circumscissile, the top falling away as a lid. 



Flowers, at least the upper, in dense terminal spikes. 

 Axils not spine-bearing. 



Spikes stout, &-14 mm. thick. 1. A. retroflexus. 



Spikes slender, 4-6 mm. thick. 2. A. hybridus. 



A pair of stout spines in each axil. 3. A. spinosus. 



