276 MISC. PUBLICATION 42 3, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



tended by a leaflike, scarious-margined bract broader than the foliage 

 leaves; perianth usually of only 1 segment, this deciduous; stamens 1 

 to 3; styles 2, persistent; utricle narrowly winged; seed vertical. 



1. Corispermum nitidum Kit. in Schulti, Oesterr. Fl. ed. 2, 1: 7. 

 1814. 



Apache County to Coconino and Yavapai Counties, 5,000 to 6,000 

 feet, usually in sandy soil, July to September. A widely distributed 

 weed in the United States; naturalized from Europe. 



The plant is a "tumbleweed." 



12. ALLENROLFEA. Iodinebush 



Plant fleshy, much-branched, woody toward the base; stems con- 

 stricted at intervals, appearing jointed; leaves reduced to triangular 

 scales; flowers perfect, in 3's in the axils of spirally arranged bracts, 

 forming dense cylindric spikes. 



1. Allenrolfea occidentalis (S. Wats.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PL 2: 546. 

 1891. 



Halostachys occidentalis S. Wats, in King, Geol. Expl. 40th Par. 

 5: 293. 1871. 



Almost throughout the State, 5,000 feet or lower, July to November. 

 Oregon to western Texas, Sonora, and Baja California. 



A reliable indicator of strongly saline soil, to which the plant is 

 mainly confined. Unpalatable to livestock and eaten only when other 

 feed is lacking. The abundant pollen is stated to cause hay fever in 

 some persons. Other common names of this plant are pickleweed and 

 chico. 



13. SARCOBATUS. Greasewood 



Plant shrubby, up to 2.4 m. (8 feet) high, with spreading rigid 

 branches; leaves fleshy, entire, narrow; flowers unisexual (monoecious), 

 the staminate ones in catkinlike spikes, without a perianth, each sub- 

 tended by a peltate stipitate bract, the pistillate flowers enclosed in a 

 perianth, this with a turbinate tube and a spreading winglike limb 

 much enlarged in fruit. 



1. SarcobatusVermiculatus (Hook.)Torr. in Emory, Mil. Reconn. 149. 



1848." 



Batis? vermiculatus Hook., Fl. Bor. Amer. 2: 128. 1838. 



Apache, Navajo, and Coconino Counties, south to Pinal and Mari- 

 copa Counties, 1,000 to 6,000 feet, in saline, usually moist soil, June 

 to September, most abundant in northeastern Arizona, where it often 

 covers large areas in pure stands or mixed with Suaeda. North 

 Dakota to Alberta, south to New Mexico, Arizona, and California. 



A valuable browse plant, the young shoots and leaves being eaten 

 by cattle and sheep in winter and spring, but bloating, and perhaps 

 poisoning by the oxalates in the sap, may result from eating this forage 

 too freely. The plant often indicates the presence in the soil of alkali 

 carbonates, ''black alkali." Various articles, such as planting sticks, 

 are made from the wood by the Hopi Indians and it is used as fuel in 

 their "kivas." 



