CHENOPODIACEAE. 115 



Leaves bright green, very sparsely 

 mealy; spikes loose, shorter than 

 the leaves. 2. C. murale. 



Leaves glandular-pubescent and heavy 



scented. 3. C. amhrosioides. 



Perennial; flowers in elongated interrupted 



spikes. 4. C. calif ornicum. 



Calyx red and fleshy in fruit. 5. C. ruhrum. 



\. C. leptophyllum Nutt. Stems erect, 0.5-2 m. high, branches 

 ascending; leaves rhombic-ovate or the upper lanceolate, narrowed 

 at the base, acute or sometimes obtuse at the apex, white-mealy 

 beneath, dentate or sinuate or the upper entire, 2-6 cm. long; spikes 

 densely flowered, often panicled; calyx about 1 mm. broad in fruit, 

 its lobes strongly carinate. 



A common weed in waste fields. May-September. 



2. C. murale L. Stout, erect, 3-6 dm. high, the lower branches 

 usually spreading or decumbent; leaves 3-8 cm. long, rhombic- 

 ovate, broadly cuneate or subtruncate at the base, acute at the 

 apex, glabrous or slightly mealy when young; spikes panicled, 

 loosely flowered; calyx enclosing the fruit; seed acutely margined. 



Frequent in waste places. Often flowering the year round. 

 Native of the Old World. 



3. C. ambrosioides L. Stem ascending or erect, 0.5-1 m. high, 

 much branched and leafy, more or less glandular-pubescent, strong- 

 scented; leaves oblong to lanceolate, obtuse, subacute or acute at 

 the apex, narrowed to a short petiole, repand-dentate, undulate or 

 the upper entire, 3-9 cm. long; flower clusters dense, axillary upon 

 the branches, forming a leafy spike; calyx-lobes appressed; pericarp 

 deciduous. 



Frequent in waste places. Native of Europe. 



4. C. californicum Wats. Stout, erect or decumbent at base, 

 5-8 dm. high, from a thick fusiform root; leaves broadly triangular- 

 hastate, truncate or cordate at base, 3-9 cm. long, sharply and 

 unequally sinuate-dentate, dark green, glabrous or slightly mealy 

 when young; flowers in dense clusters in terminal spikes; calyx 

 deeply 5-toothed, loosely enveloping the fruit; pericarp persistent; 

 seed subglobose, about 2 mm. broad. 



Frequent in the valleys and foothills. March-May. 



5. C. rubrum L. Annual, somewhat fl.eshy and glabrous or 

 commonly somewhat mealy; stem erect, leafy, 3-7 dm. high, with 

 strict or ascending branches; leaves thick, 3-5 cm. long, rhombic- 

 ovate or rhombic-lanceolate, coarsely sinuate-dentate, or the upper 

 entire, acute or obtuse at apex, narrowed at base to a rather short 

 petiole; flowers in compound, leafy-bracted axillary and terminal 

 spikes, often exceeding the leaves; calyx 3-5-parted, its segments 

 slightly fleshy, reddish, not keeled, obtuse, about as long as the 

 utricle; stamens 1-2; stigmas short; utricle horizontal, shining, 

 rather sharp-edged. 



Occasional in saline flats and marshes along the coast. August- 

 November, 



