284 OOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 



92. PHYTOLACCACE^J, TOKEWEED FAMILY. 



A small family, represented he,.- only by a single snecies of the 

 principal genus, 



1. PHYTOLACCA, I'OKK or I'OKKU'KKD. (A mongrel name, of 

 the Greek word fur ,,// prefixed to the French lac, lake, alhnliii"- tu 'the 

 cnmson coloring-matter of the berries.) Calyx .>f r. rounded petal-like wliite 

 sepals. Stamens5-30. Ovary of several cell and lobes, bearing as many 

 Short Styles, in fruit a deprived jnicv berry. contiiiiiin- a rim.- uf \ertical 

 seeds ; tlie.-e tunned on the plan ut' those of the next family. V 



P. decandra, COMMON p. or SCOKE, GARGET, vte. Coarse Mnooth 

 weed of low grounds, with lar-e acrid-poisonous rout, -tout stems 6-9 lnVh ) 

 alternate ovate-oblong leaves on Ion- petiole-;, and racemes hecominv. lateral 

 opposite a leaf, in summer, ripening the dark crimson purple lorries in autumn 

 stamens, style.-, and seeds 10. 



93. CHENOPODIACEJE, GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 



Represented chiefly 1>y homely herbs, with inconspicuous green- 

 ish flowers ; the 1-celled ovary has a single ovule and ripens into 

 an akene or utricle, containing a single seed, usually with embryo 

 coiled more or less around mealy albumen. Leaves chiefly alter- 

 nate. Plants neither attractive nor easy to students ; only the 

 cultivated plants and commonest weeds here given. 



1. Cultivated for xi-nnini'iit, tirh/hiy plant, u-illt white flowers : calyx corolla-like. 



1. l;oi SS1NGAULTIA. Flower- in slender spikes from the axils of the leaves 



perfect. Calvx 0-parted. spreading, and with one or two exterior sepals ur 

 hraets. Stamens 6, with slender filaments. Stvle slender: stigmas li. eluh- 

 shaped. Fruit a thin akene, pointed with the persistent ?tyle. 



2. Cultivated for food, from Eu. : flowers greenhli, us ig usual in tlie fmnlfi/. 



2. BKTA. I-'lowers |ierfcct, clustered, \\iih :; Imiets and a f.-rlel't eahx l.ccoming 



indurated in fruit enclosing the hard akene, the bases of the two coherent. 

 Stamens J3. Style -Imrt : ^ti^mas mo-t! v '2. Seed hurixontal. 



3. SPINACIA. Flowers iliieeiuiis, iii axillary close clusters : the staminate ones 



racemed or spiked, consisting of a 4-6-lobed calyx and as many -tanien-. 

 Pistillate (lowers with a tubular calyx which i< 2-3-toothed at the apex and 

 2-3-horned on the sides, hanleniu:: and enclosing the akene. Styles 4. 

 Seed vertical. 



3. Weeds of i-ult'rnit'mn, < of rwnls!ili s, y/t-A/n, $c. Flowers j>< rf'-t, lirnctlits. 



4. IlLl'lTM. Flowers in close axillary i-ln~teri or heads vhidi are soinetinies 



c"ntlnent into interrupted s]tikes.' Calyx 2-. r i-p:irtt-d. hec ..... inj; Hoshy or 

 berry-like in fruit in th< genuine species. Stamens i-o. Styles or Mijmas 

 li. Seeil \cvtii-al in the calyx. 



5. CHENOPOpIUM. Flowers iii small clusters collected in .-piked or sometimes 



open panicles. Calvx mostly -i-deft, not -uccuU-iit in fruit. Ovary and 

 utricle depre-.ed. (Lessons, p. 1-JI, )!_;. ::sii) Stales 2, rarely 3. "Seed 

 horizontal, or in a few specie- occasionally vertical. 



The following also are common species aloti^ the coast or near salt-water : 



^ Atriplex patula, and one or two other species of OKACHI;: most like 



Spinacia, lint scurfy or niealv. 



Salicornia herbacea, ami two other species ,,f GLASSWOKT : low, leaf- 



less, tlcshy, juinteil, hranchin- plants, with the (lowers sunken ill the fleshy 

 spikes. 



SuiBda maritima, SKA BLITK : with hranchiiiL; steins, and small flowers 

 in the axils of linear nearly terete fleshy leaves. 



Salsola Kali, SALTWOKT : bushy-branching annual, with awl-shaped 



