1. A. pátulum, L. Erect or prostrate (1–4° high), dark green and glabrous or somewhat scurfy; leaves narrowly lanceolate hastate (1–4´ long), the lower sometimes opposite, entire or sparingly sinuate-dentate, petioled, the upper lanceolate to linear; flowers clustered in rather slender spikes, the two kinds together or separate; fruiting bracts ovate-triangular or rhombic-hastate, entire or toothed, often muricate on the back, united to near the middle.—Very variable. The typical form scarcely occurs except as naturalized from Europe.—Var. hastàtum, Gray. Erect or spreading, stout, at least the lower leaves broadly triangular-hastate, often coarsely and irregularly toothed. Salt and brackish places, on the coast from Can. to Va., along the Great Lakes, and far westward.—Var. littoràle, Gray. Slender; leaves linear-lanceolate to linear, rarely subhastate or toothed. Canada to N. J., and westward along the Great Lakes.—Var. subspicàtum, Watson. A low erect and often simple form (3–12´ high), usually quite scurfy; leaves lanceolate-hastate (½–1´ long). Minn. to central Kan., and westward.
2. A. arenàrium, Nutt. Silvery-mealy, diffusely spreading; leaves oblong, narrowed at base, nearly sessile; fruiting bracts broadly wedge-shaped, united, 3-nerved, 2–5 toothed at the summit, and usually strongly muricate and reticulate on the sides.—Sandy beaches, along the coast, Mass. to Fla.
3. A. argénteum, Nutt. Usually low, much branched, gray-scurfy, leafy; leaves deltoid or subrhombic, often subhastate; staminate flowers in terminal spikes; fruiting bracts round-rhombic, indurated, united, the free margins more or less dilated and deeply toothed, the sides variously appendaged.—Red River Valley, Minn., south and westward.
6. CORISPÉRMUM, A. Juss. Bug-seed.
Flowers perfect, single and sessile in the axils of the upper leaves reduced to bracts, usually forming a spike. Calyx of a single delicate sepal on the inner side. Stamens 1 or 2, rarely 5. Styles 2. Fruit oval, flat, with the outer face rather convex and the inner concave, sharp-margined, a caryopsis, i.e. the thin pericarp adherent to the vertical seed. Embryo slender, coiled around a central albumen.—Low branching annuals, with narrow linear alternate 1-nerved leaves. (Name formed of κόρις, a bug, and σπέρμα, seed.)
1. C. hyssopifòlium, L. Somewhat hairy when young, pale; floral leaves or bracts awl-shaped from a dilated base or the upper ovate and pointed, scarious-margined; fruit wing-margined.—Sandy beaches along the Great Lakes, central Neb., Tex., and westward.—Leaves usually pungent.
7. SALICÓRNIA, Tourn. Glasswort. Samphire.
Flowers perfect, 3 together immersed in each hollow of the thickened upper joints, forming a spike; the two lateral sometimes sterile. Calyx small and bladder-like, with a toothed or torn margin, at length spongy and narrowly wing-bordered, enclosing the flattened thin utricle. Stamens 1 or 2. Styles 2, united at base. Seed vertical, without albumen. Embryo thick, the cotyledons incumbent upon the radicle.—Low saline plants, with succulent leafless jointed stems, and opposite branches; the flower-bearing branchlets forming the spikes. (Name composed of sal, salt, and cornu, a horn; saline plants with horn-like branches.)
1. S. mucronàta, Bigel. Annual, erect, stout, naked below (2–12´ high), turning red in age; spikes thick, closely jointed; scales mucronate-pointed and conspicuous, especially when dry; middle flower half higher than the lateral ones or less, occupying nearly the whole length of the joint; fruit pubescent; seed ½–¾´´ long. (S. Virginica, Gray, Manual; not L.)—Sea-coast from N. Scotia to Va.
2. S. herbàcea, L. Annual, erect or at length spreading (6–18´ high), green; scales obscure and very blunt, making a truncate barely emarginate termination of the longer joints of the stem or elongated narrower spikes; middle flower much higher than the lateral ones, slightly shorter than the joint; fruit pubescent; seed {2/3}–1´´ long.—Salt marshes of the coast and interior salt springs, and alkaline localities.