herbaceous above a woody base. Taller forms tend to be woody throughout (fig. 30). 

 Branches and leaves are covered with a dense coating of stellate and simple hairs that 

 are white when young, but become rust colored Vv'ith age. 



TJie leaves are alternate, linear, 5 to 50 mm long, with entire, strongly revolute 

 margins. 



h'iuterfat liiay be eitlier monoecious or dioecious. The flowers are borne in dense 

 paniculate clusters along the upper portion of tne branches. The pistillate flowers 

 are Delow tne stair.inate flowers on monoecious plants. 



Staminate flowers lack bracts and petals. They are comprised of four sepals and 

 four stamens borne opposite the sepals. 



Pistillate flowers lack both sepals and petals. Pistils are enclosed by a pair of 

 bracts that are united more than half their length. The bracts are covered and often 

 obscured by long, silky hairs (fig. 31). These long hairs distinguish winterfat from 

 species of Atriptex. 



Site and climate permitting, winterfat blooms between May and August. The fruit 

 ripens from September to November and is dispersed by wind in late fall and winter. 

 Seed production is extremely variable. A scant crop is produced in most years. How- 

 ever, a heavy seed crop can be produced in years of good summer storms coupled with 

 the absence of summer grazing. Such productive crops on dry desert ranges may occur 

 but once in a decade. Cleaned seeds of this shrub average 112,275 per pound (248/g) 

 {Plummer and others 1968) . 



Figure 30. — Mature tall form of winterfat with good seed production, growing on Shay 

 Mesa, northeast of Monticello, San Juan County, Utah. 



24 



