9 BULLETIN 1345, U. 8S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
States is known as chamizo or some contraction of this Mexican 
name. The term sagebrush is more properly applied to species of 
the genus Artemisia, the leaves of which are invariably strongly 
aromatic and rarely if ever salty. The saltbushes lack the strong 
pungent odor but have the salty taste. 
The plants discussed in this bulletin were obtained by David 
Griffiths and E. O. Wooton, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, who 
prepared the descriptions of the various species. For convenience 
of reference the information on each plant species is given under the 
botanical name of that species. These names are arranged in alpha- 
betical order under their natural plant families. Many of these 
plants have not yet received common or vernacular names; some 
widely distributed species have two or more common names, which 
are used in different parts of the areas where they grow. Whenever 
common names are known, they are used in describing the species, 
and a list of these names, with their scientific equivalents, is given 
on page 37. It is hoped that the nontechnical descriptions, supple- 
mented by the illustrations, will enable interested laymen to identify 
the different plants. 
Many of the plants were analyzed in the Bureau of Chemistry, 
according to the methods of the Association of Official Agricultural 
Chemists. The letter “G” in parentheses after the department 
sample number indicates that the material was collected by Grif- 
fiths: the letter “W,” that it was collected by Wooton. Specimens 
of all of the species analyzed in the department have been preserved, 
so that all the samples here reported as department samples may 
be readily identified. In many cases analyses made in State ex- 
periment stations have been used. Bibliographical references in 
parentheses indicate the source of the figures quoted. No published 
analyses were accepted until careful examination had shown that 
they were complete and correct and-that they had been made on 
plants which could be identified. It was, of course, impossible to 
analyze all species of the families found in the areas covered, but the 
list is fairly representative of those which are most important as 
forage plants. These analyses are not offered as exact measures 
of the food value of the plants examined, as digestion coefficients 
have not yet been determined in all cases. They are, however, the 
best relative measures now available. 
THE SALTBUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES 
The saltbushes and their allies belong to closely related botanical 
eroups and live in very similar places, members of different species 
often growing side by side over large areas. (Pls. I and Il.) In 
most of the regions where they grow they are fairly well known 
under various common names (p. Bays 
Some of the saltbushes are really bushes, varying in height from 
a foot to 10 feet. Others. like the Australian saltbush, are weedy 
herbaceous annuals or perennials, to which the average person 
would be unwilling to apply the term “bush.” In general, they 
have thickish, mostly undivided leaves, which are nearly always 
grayish because of a scurfy or scaly (not hairy) covering. The 
leaves may be small or an inch or more long, and many of them have 
a cool, wet “feel.” ‘All have numerous small dull-yellow or green 
