Washington, D. C. October, 1925 
SALTBUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES IN THE UNITED STATES 
By G. L. BIipweL.,’ Bureau of Cremistry, and BE. O. Wooton,’ formerly of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry * 
CONTENTS 
Page Page 
EMETOGUCHIONE = 3) oso n se 1 | Common names and their scientific 5 
The saltbushes and their allies___-- re STi e ts ae Se ee 37 
Results of examination and analysis: Literature’ ‘eited=.% Yas heey eS 38 
Goosefoot slamiliy.2 24 3222 2s. > 3 
Ripweedyramly =.= 2-2 Se 28 
Buckwheat. family vith. 223252 30 
Covering many millions of acres of the arid and semiarid West- 
ern States are various native plants, upon which milhons of meat 
animals graze each year. Comparatively little has been ascertained 
concerning the forage value of these plants, which are practically 
the only forage plants that grow on the dry lands, and the avail- 
able data are “widely scattered in bulletins and reports. A study 
of these plants was therefore begun several years ago by the Bureau 
of Chemistry and the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department 
of Agriculture. 
The information thus obtained on certain of the native grasses 
that are extensively used as range forage plants was published in 
1915 as Department of Agriculture Bulletin 201. Similar data on 
some of the saltbushes and a few of their alhes are presented in 
the following pages. 
The term saltbush has very properly been given to the group 
which contains the most species, as well as the largest number of 
individuals, nearly all of which have a pronounced salty taste. 
The individuals classed as saltbushes in this bulletin belong to the 
botanical genus Atriplex, although certain species of this genus 
are known by various other common names. For instance, some 
of the shrubby species are called saltsage, shadscale, sagebrush, etc.. 
while the one growing along the southern boundary of the United 
t Assisted by C. E. Goodrich and J. B. Reed, of the Bureau of Chemistry. 
2 Now in the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. 
3’ The work was instituted “by David Griffiths, of the Bureau of Plant Industry. P. C. 
Standley, of the Smithsonian Institution, reviewed the botanical work and identified most 
of the species. 
The genus Atriplex has more than 100 species in North America. 
43860°— is 
