Froelichia floridana (Nutt.) Moq.

Erect, (3)5–20 dm, canescent or thinly tomentose, the stem stout, tending to be quadrangular; larger lvs mostly 5–12 × 1–2.5 cm; upper internodes progressively longer; spikes terminating elongate peduncles, often branched, eventually to 10 cm, the fls closely set in a 5-ranked spiral, averaging ca 15–20 fls per cm; bractlets rotund, scarious, much shorter than the cal; mature cal soon deciduous, flask-shaped, symmetrical, mostly (4)5–5.5 mm, densely woolly, with 2 lateral entire to dentate or erose wings; seeds 1.6–1.8 mm; 2n=ca 78. Dry, especially open, sandy soil; coastal states from s. Del. and e. Md. to La.; disjunct inland from Ind. and Wis. to s. Ill. and Mo., and from S.D. to Tex. July–Sept. There are 3 vars., 2 in our range. Coastal plain plants, var. floridana, are robust, to 2 m, with the lowest internode of the infl often 1–2 dm; the peduncles are lanate with hairs to 2 mm, and the larger lvs are mostly elliptic-lanceolate and broadest near or below the middle. Plants of the upper Mississippi Valley region, var. campestris (Small) Fernald, average smaller, seldom over 1 m, with the lowest internode of the infl seldom over 1 dm; the peduncles are more closely hairy, with hairs mostly under 0.5 mm, and the larger lvs are more elliptic-oblanceolate, broadest above the middle, and obtuse or rounded at the tip.