Flora of China 5: 351-414. 2003. CHENOPODIACEAE 藜科 li ke Zhu Gelin (朱格麟 Chu Ge-ling)1; Sergei L. Mosyakin2, Steven E. Clemants3 Herbs annual, subshrubs, or shrubs, rarely perennial herbs or small trees. Stems and branches sometimes jointed (articulate); indumentum of vesicular hairs (furfuraceous or farinose), ramified (dendroid), stellate, rarely of glandular hairs, or plants glabrous. Leaves alternate or opposite, exstipulate, petiolate or sessile; leaf blade flattened, terete, semiterete, or in some species reduced to scales. Flowers monochlamydeous, bisexual or unisexual (plants monoecious or dioecious, rarely polygamous); bracteate or ebracteate. Bractlets (if present) 1 or 2, lanceolate, navicular, or scale-like. Perianth membranous, herbaceous, or succulent, (1–)3–5- parted; segments imbricate, rarely in 2 series, often enlarged and hardened in fruit, or with winged, acicular, or tuberculate appendages abaxially, seldom unmodified (in tribe Atripliceae female flowers without or with poorly developed perianth borne between 2 specialized bracts or at base of a bract). Stamens shorter than or equaling perianth segments and arranged opposite them; filaments subulate or linear, united at base and usually forming a hypogynous disk, sometimes with interstaminal lobes; anthers dorsifixed, incumbent in bud, 2-locular, extrorse, or dehiscent by lateral, longitudinal slits, obtuse or appendaged at apex. Ovary superior, ovoid or globose, of 2–5 carpels, unilocular; ovule 1, campylotropous; style terminal, usually short, with 2(–5) filiform or subulate stigmas, rarely capitate, papillose, or hairy on one side or throughout. Fruit a utricle, rarely a pyxidium (dehiscent capsule); pericarp membranous, leathery, or fleshy, adnate or appressed to seed. Seed horizontal, vertical, or oblique, compressed globose, lenticular, reniform, or obliquely ovoid; testa crustaceous, leathery, membranous, or succulent; embryo annular, semi-annular, or spiral, with narrow cotyledons; endosperm much reduced or absent; perisperm abundant or absent. Probably about 100 genera and 1400 species (depending on taxonomic opinions): mainly in arid areas, deserts, and coastal and saline habitats of N and S Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America; 42 genera (two endemic, two introduced) and 190 species (21 endemic, six introduced) in China. Many species of Chenopodiaceae are adapted to, and are major components of, arid or ruderal environments. They are often intimately involved with the daily life of people. For example, Beta vulgaris is one of the most important sources for sugar; Chenopodium quinoa is a new high-protein crop; Spinacia oleracea and Beta vulgaris are excellent vegetables; Dysphania ambrosioides and Salsola collina are used medicinally; seeds of Agrio- phyllum squarrosum are called “sand-rice” locally and are edible; seeds of Corispermum declinatum are used for making gin; the ash of Halogeton arachnoideus and some species of Salsola contains soda which is used in noodle-making; and Anabasis aphylla can be used as an insecticide. Many species are important as animal forage in desert, semidesert, and steppe regions, and some species make good windbreaks and soil binders. Haloxylon ammodendron has been used extensively in biological reconditioning of the desert. Kung Hsien-wu, Chu Ge-lin, C. P. Tsien Cho-po, Ma Cheng-gung & Li An-jen. 1979. Chenopodiaceae. In: Kung Hsien-wu & C. P. Tsien Cho- po, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 25(2): 1–194. 1a. Embryo spiral; perisperm separated into two parts by embryo, or perisperm absent. 2a. Bractlets rudimentary, membranous, scale-like, hidden by perianth; stigmas papillose or hairy throughout; embryo planospiral. 3a. Flowers unisexual; perianth of female flowers pellucid-membranous, lobed at apex, enlarged, incrassate, and berrylike in fruit; perianth segments of male flower spreading, caducous; anther 0.6–0.7 mm ........................ 27. Borszczowia 3b. Flowers bisexual; perianth segments not spreading; anther to 0.5 mm ...................................................................... 28. Suaeda 2b. Bractlets developed, herbaceous or succulent, navicular or similar to leaves, surrounding perianth (in Sympegma bractlets absent, but flowers fascicled at apex of branchlets); stigmas papillose only adaxially; embryo conic- spiral rarely planospiral (in tribe Salsoleae). 4a. Perianth segments connate into a tube, with 5 membranous teeth at apex; perianth adaxially with an acicular appendage adnate to it in fruit; axil of bractlets with a fascicle of villous hairs .................................................... 29. Cornulaca 4b. Perianth segments not connate into a tube, without an acicular appendage; axil of bractlets glabrous or ± hairy, but hairs not fascicular. 5a. Perianth segments without abaxial appendage; branchlets not jointed. 6a. Subshrubs cushionlike; perianth conspicuously enlarged and exposed in fruit; leaves subulate ................ 40. Nanophyton 6b. Herbs annual; perianth not exposed in fruit; leaves linear, semiterete. 7a. Perianth segments connate, hardening and forming an urceolate body in fruit; anther appendage inflated and bladderlike .......................................................................................................................... 41. Halimocnemis 7b. Perianth segments free, proximally becoming leathery and adaxially concave in fruit; anther appendage thick, not inflated and bladderlike, with 3 teeth ...................................................................................... 42. Petrosimonia 5b. Perianth segments with a well-developed or rudimentary wing or tuberculate appendage. 8a. Branchlets jointed; leaves opposite (except in Horaninovia). 1 Herbarium, Institute of Botany, Northwest Normal University, Shilidian, Lanzhou, Gansu 730070, People’s Republic of China. 2 Vascular Plants Department, M. G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 2 Tereshchenkivska Street, Kiev 01601, Ukraine. 3 Herbarium, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11225-1099, U.S.A. CHENOPODIACEAE 9a. Seed vertical. 10a. Subshrubs, or woody stems specialized into tuberous caudex, or absent; anthers without appendage; leaves obtuse or acute at apex, sometimes with blunt spines ................................................................... 33. Anabasis 10b. Herbs annual; anthers with a slender, mucronate appendage at apex; leaves spinose at apex ......... 34. Girgensohnia 9b. Seed horizontal. 11a. Herbs annual; leaves and bracts with a long spine at apex ................................................................. 30. Horaninovia 11b. Subshrubs, shrubs, or small trees; leaves and bracts without a long spine at apex. 12a. Shrubs or small trees; flowers emerging from lateral, dwarf branches on second year’s growth; perianth membranous, with a winged appendage in fruit; utricle slightly concave; disk inconspicuous ...................................................................................................................................... 31. Haloxylon 12b. Subshrubs; flowers emerging from annual branches; perianth slightly succulent, with a rudimentary winged appendage; disk conspicuous ....................................................................... 32. Arthrophytum 8b. Branchlets not jointed; leaves alternate (except in Salsola brachiata). 13a. Flowers usually 3, borne at apex of a dwarf branchlet .............................................................................. 35. Sympegma 13b. Flowers solitary or glomerulate in leaf axils. 14a. Winged appendage of perianth segment attached subapically. 15a. Herbs annual; flowers glomerulate; perianth conic; leaves expanded at base ................................... 36. Halogeton 15b. Subshrubs; flowers solitary; perianth subglobose; leaves not expanded at base ...................................... 37. Iljinia 14b. Winged appendage of perianth segment attached at middle. 16a. Portion of perianth segment below wing enlarged, hardened, and woody in fruit ....................... 38. Halothamnus 16b. Portion of perianth segment below wing not enlarged, hardened, or woody in fruit .............................. 39. Salsola 1b. Embryo annular or semi-annular; perisperm copious, surrounded by embryo. 17a. Fruit a pyxidium, dehiscent by a lid ....................................................................................................................... 1. Acroglochin 17b. Fruit a utricle, indehiscent or irregularly dehiscent. 18a. Perianth basally adnate to ovary, enlarged, incrassate, and hardened in fruit ................................................................ 2. Beta 18b. Perianth free from ovary, not enlarged, incrassate, or hardened in fruit (in tribe Atripliceae ovary is attached to 2 specialized bractlets). 19a. Flowers borne in axil of succulent bracts, appearing sunken into rachis; leaves reduced to scales or succulent- tuberculate, decurrent if terete. 20a. Herbs annual. 21a. Branches and leaves opposite ...................................................................................................................... 3. Salicornia 21b. Branches and leaves alternate ...................................................................................................................... 4. Halopeplis 20b. Shrubs or subshrubs. 22a. Branchlets not jointed; leaves alternate ......................................................................................................... 5. Kalidium