Froelichia ?/heelerl sp. nov 
Froelichia Wheeieri sp, nov. Plant perennial from a thick, woody root, 
and branched at the base; stems several, frequently 3 dm, high or less, less than 
2 mm,, frequently 1 mm, broad or less, terete, slender, sericeous-tomentose with 
white hairs, the stouter stems branched, the others simple; leaves linear-to oblong, 
usually crowded at the base, but present on stems that are branched, both between 
the base and branchlet and subtending the branchlets, and with one pair of leaves 
on branchlets a short distance above their base, a ofrthe narrowed at the base but ^ 
not clearly differentiated into a petiole, the lOTer surface sericeous-tomentose, 
the upper surface pubescent and scaberulous but not canescent, mostly 1-4 cm, long and 
3 mm, broad or less; spikes stout, dense, mostly 1-3 cm, long; bracts and bractlets 
stramineous, the bractlets suborbicular and about 2,5 mm, in diameter; calyx about 
4 mm. long and 3 mm, broad; calyx-lobes about as long as the calyx-tube, narrowly 
oblong, obtus^ish to acute; mature calyx-tube black, winged with lateral rows of 
distinct, or nearly so, spines, both faces usually with a basal spine, sometimes 
one face bears 2 basal spines and the other face bears either 1 or none; the spines, 
or at times the distinct, dentate scales, are fully 1 mm. long; seed broadly obovoid, 
as broad as long, barely 1 mm, long, light brovm, dull. 
Type specimen. No, 16756, was collected October 6, 1935, in %verick County, 
Texas, at about nine miles southeast of Nagle Pass on the Indio Ranch Road, and is 
deposited at the Gray Herbarium. In characters of the mature calyx-tube this plant 
agrees with F, gracilis and F, Braunii, but both these are larger-growing annual plants 
with larger leaves. This plant agrees with F, arizontca in being perennial, but 
that species has different characters of the mature calyx-tube, and is a stouter, 
sparsely branched plant, with larger leaves. This species apparently has a smaller 
seed than any other species of Froelichia, The writer takes pleasure in naming this 
species after Louis C, Wheeler of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, as 
a token of appreciation for his courtesy in calling attention to the fact that this 
plant is distinct from F, arizonica . 
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