CHENOPODIACEJE. (OOOSEFOOT FAMILY.) 875 



armed with 2-3 reflexed spines. Albumen almost none. Embryo Btraight. 

 Cotyledons aneqaal, convolute. — Shrubby tropical plants, with entire stipulate 

 leaves, and small greenish flowers in an elongated and slender spike. 



1. P. alliacea, L. — South Florida. — Stem 2° - 3° high, closely pubes- 

 cent Leaves 3'-4' long, oblong or obovate, obtuse, narrowed into a short 

 petiole, pubescent beneath. Spikes filiform, single or by pairs, G'-12' long. 

 Calyx-lobes linear, incurved at the apex. Stamens 4-5. Achenia erect, ap- 

 pressed to the rachis, with two spines at each lobe. Stipules subulate, minute. 



2. RIVINA, Plum. 



Calyx remotely 3-bracted, 4-parted, colored. Stamens 4 -8 : anthers ovate or 

 oblong. Ovary simple. Ovule solitary, ampbitropous. Stigma capitate or 

 many-cleft. Berry nearly globose, at length dry. Embryo forming a ring 

 around the copious albumen. Cotyledons somewhat leafy, convolute. — Shrubs, 

 with alternate minutely stipulate petioled leaves, and small white or rose-colored 

 flowers in axillary and terminal racemes. Bracts deciduous. 



1 R. liumilis, L. Closely pubescent ; stem with spreading brandies ; 

 [eaves oblong-ovate, rounded at the base, tapering but obtuse at the summit, 

 on long filiform petioles; racemes slender, longer than the leaves; calyx-lobes 

 obovate, pale rose-color ; berry rounded, compressed. — South Florida. — Shrub 

 1° - 2° high. Leaves l'-3' long. Flowers and berries 1"- U" long. 



3. PHYTOLACCA, Tourn. Pokeweed. 



Calyx 3-bracted, 5-parted ; the lobes petal-like, rounded. Stamens 5-25, the 

 filaments subulate : anthers elliptical. Ovary compound. Styles 5-12, short, 

 distinct, recurved at the apex, stigmatic within. Fruit a depressed globose berry, 

 containing 5-12 one-seeded indehiscent carpels united in a circle. Embryo 

 forming a ring around the central albumen. Cotyledons linear. — Erect branch- 

 ing herbs, with entire petioled leaves. Flowers in racemes opposite the leaves. 



1. P. decaildra, L. Smooth; stem very stout (2° -12° high); leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, acute ; racemes many-flowered, as long as the leaves ; flowers 

 white, turning purplish; stamens, styles, and carpels 10. — Margins of fields 

 and uncultivated ground, Florida, and northward. July -Sept. 1J. — Itoot 

 large. Berry black. 



Order 108. CHENOPODIACE^. (Goosefoot Family.) 



Unsightly herbs, with exstipulate leaves, inconspicuous flowers, and the 

 characters mostly of the preceding family ; but the green calyx often 

 becoming succulent in fruit, 5 (rarely 1-2) stamens opposite the sepals, 

 a solitary ovary forming an achenium or utricle in fruit, two short and 

 spreading styles, a horizontal or vertical lenticular seed, and the embryo 

 forming a riug around the albumen, or spirally coiled with little or no 

 albumen. 



