9. ATRAPHAXIS Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 333. 1753.1. Atraphaxis spinosa Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 333. 1753.2. Atraphaxis compacta Ledebour, Fl. Altaic. 2: 55. 1830.3. Atraphaxis canescens Bunge, Index Sem. Hort. Dorpat. 3. 1839.4. Atraphaxis laetevirens (Ledebour) Jaubert & Spach, Ill. Pl. Orient. 2: 14. 1844.5. Atraphaxis pungens (Marschall von Bieberstein) Jaubert & Spach, Ill. Pl. Orient. 2: 14. 1844.6. Atraphaxis pyrifolia Bunge, Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint Pétersbourg Divers Savans 7: 483. 1851.7. Atraphaxis irtyschensis Chang Y. Yang & Y. L. Han, Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 4(2): 150. 1984 [“jrtyschensis”].8. Atraphaxis virgata (Regel) Krassnov, Scripta Soc. Geogr. Ross. 19 : 295. 1888.9. Atraphaxis frutescens (Linnaeus) Eversmann, Reise Orenbg. Buchara, 115. 1823.9a. Atraphaxis frutescens var. frutescens9b. Atraphaxis frutescens var. papillosa Y. L. Liu, J. NorthW. Teachers’ Coll., Nat. Sci. 3: 51. 1985 or 1987.10. Atraphaxis decipiens Jaubert & Spach, Ill. Pl. Orient. 2: 14. 1844.11. Atraphaxis manshurica Kitagawa, Rep. First Sci. Exped. Mansh. 4(4): 75. 1936.12. Atraphaxis bracteata Losinskaja, Izv. Glavn. Bot. Sada SSSR 26: 43. 1927.Flora of China 5: 328-332. 2003.9. ATRAPHAXIS Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 333. 1753.木蓼属 mu liao shuBao Bojian (包伯坚); Alisa E. Grabovskaya-BorodinaShrubs much branched; woody branches with spines or not, herbaceous branchlets of current year with leaves and flowers.Leaves simple, alternate, rarely fascicled, nearly sessile; ocrea membranous, usually with 2 veins, 2-parted at apex. Inflorescenceracemose, terminal, or lateral, with dense or sparse axillary flowers. Pedicel slender, jointed. Flowers hermaphroditic. Perianthpersistent, 4- or 5-parted, inflated in fruit. Stamens 6 or 8; filaments dilated at base and united into a glandular ring. Ovarylenticularly compressed or trigonous; styles 2 or 3, short; stigmas capitate. Achenes lenticular or trigonous.About 25 species: N Africa, C, N, and SW Asia, S Europe; 12 species (two endemic) in China.The reader can refer to Borodina (Rast. Tsentral. Azii 9: 93–97. 1989) for taxa in adjacent Central Asian countries.1a. Tepals 4; stamens 6; styles 2; achenes lenticularly compressed.2a. Branchlets of current year and leaves with densely papillate hairs ..................................................................... 3. A. canescens2b. Branchlets of current year and leaves without papillate hairs.3a. Leaves fascicled; herbaceous branchlets of current year very short .............................................................. 2. A. compacta3b. Leaves alternate; herbaceous branchlets of current year longer, slender .......................................................... 1. A. spinosa1b. Tepals 5; stamens 8; styles 3; achenes trigonous.4a. Herbaceous branchlets and leaves with papillate hairs; leaves bright green, without raised reticulate veins ... 4. A. laetevirens4b. Herbaceous branchlets and leaves without papillate hairs; leaves with raised reticulate veins.5a. Leaves grayish green or bluish green.6a. Woody branches pointed at apex; inflorescence a short raceme ca. 15 mm ............................................. 5. A. pungens6b. Woody branches obtuse at apex; inflorescence a panicle or raceme.7a. Shrub 1.5–2 m tall; annual branches lengthened, virgate, dying only in higher part, as a rulebranched; inflorescence a panicle with leaves ...................................................................................... 8. A. virgata7b. Subshrub 30–50 cm tall; annual branches dying for most part, usually not branched;inflorescence a raceme, flowers from ocrea bracteate ...................................................................... 9. A. frutescens5b. Leaves green or yellow-green.8a. Woody branches acuminate into point at apex.9a. Leaves elliptic or obovate, 15–25 × 10–13 mm, with prominent reticulate veins; pedicel ca. 1 cm,jointed at lower 1/3; perianth light yellow-red .................................................................................... 6. A. pyrifolia9b. Leaves linear or lanceolate, 15–30 × 1–3 mm; midvein prominent; pedicel 5–10 mm, jointed atupper 1/3; perianth light green ........................................................................................................ 7. A. irtyschensis8b. Woody branches obtuse at apex, not pointed.10a. Leaves oblong or elliptic, or lanceolate, prominently veined; outer tepals reniform, spreadingin fruit ............................................................................................................................................ 12. A. bracteata10b. Leaves oblanceolate-oblong or lanceolate to linear, not prominently pinnately veined; outertepals oblong or oblong-ovate, reflexed in fruit.11a. Outer tepals oblong-ovate, ca. as long as or slightly shorter than above joint portion ofpedicel ................................................................................................................................... 10. A. decipiens11b. Outer tepals oblong, longer than above joint portion of pedicel ...................................... 11. A. manshurica1. Atraphaxis spinosa Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 333. 1753.刺木蓼 ci mu liaoAtraphaxis spinosa var. angustifolia Chang Y. Yang & Y.L. Han.Shrubs 30–100 cm tall. Stem slender, with gray scabrousbark; woody branches slender, without leaves at ends, spine-pointed; herbaceous branchlets of current year soon becominglignified, straight or slightly flexuous, slender, glabrous. Leavesgray-green or blue-green, orbicular, elliptic, broadly elliptic, orbroadly ovate, rarely obovate, 3–7 × 3–5 mm, leathery, bothsurfaces glabrous, reticulate veins raised abaxially, base round-ed or cuneate, gradually narrowing into a short petiole, marginentire or slightly undulate, apex rounded or obtuse, short acumi-nate; ocrea brown at base, cylindric, 2–3 mm, membranous andinconspicuously veined in upper part, cleft into 2 aristate teeth.Pedicel ca. 5 mm, jointed at middle or slightly below. Flowers2–6 at leaf axil of current year’s branchlets. Tepals pink; outertepals reflexed in fruit, oblong-ovate or ovate, 2–3 mm.Achenes compressed, light brown, shiny, ovoid or broadlyovoid, smooth, base rounded, apex acuminate or obtuse. Fl. andfr. May–Sep.Slopes, deserts including the Gobi, roadsides, margins ofcultivated land; 400–1800 m. Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia].2.