镰叶碱蓬 lian ye jian peng

Schoberia obtusifolia Bunge; Suaeda drepanophylla Litvinov.

Herbs annual, 20-50 cm tall. Stem erect, usually much branched, pallid or yellow-white, terete below, slightly ribbed above, glabrous. Leaves usually blue-green, upcurved sickle-shaped, linear, terete, 0.5-1.5 cm × 1.5-2 mm, base somewhat contracted, apex obtuse; upper leaves shorter, broadly elliptic to suborbicular. Glomerules 4-12-flowered or more, forming an interrupted spikelike panicle; bractlets ovate or obovate, apical margin slightly toothed. Flowers bisexual and sometimes female. Perianth star-shaped, 1.5-2 mm in diam.; segments ovate, unequal, base extended into cornate and triangular processes. Stamens 5; anthers broadly elliptic, ca. 0.3 mm. Style obscure; stigmas 2, black-brown. Seed horizontal or oblique, red-brown to black, sublustrous, ovoid or slightly depressed, ca. 1 × 0.8 mm, finely lineate. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Aug-Sep.

Saline-alkaline deserts, river banks, lake shores. S Xinjiang [C Asia, SW Asia (E Caucasus, N Iran), SE Europe (Lower Volga region of Russia)].