THE GOOSE FOOT FAMILY. 221 



north of Thibet. One has long been a familiar 

 medicine, and another a useful plant for its leaf- stalk, 

 which, cut into short portions, makes a so-called " fruit- 

 tart." 



General Description of the Dock Family. 



Herhs of shrubs — With swollen nodes ; often with an 

 acid juice. 



Leaves — With ochreate or sheathing stipules. 



Flowers — Bisexual or polygamous ; calyx, 3- to 6- 

 parted, persistent, often enlarging in fruit; stamens, 

 adherent to calyx ; ovary, 1-celled, free. 



Fruit — Achene or nutlet, rarely fleshy. 



Chenopodiaceae. 

 The Goosefoot Family. 



This order contains some 520 species of 80 genera 

 in 12 tribes. In South Africa there are 9 genera. 

 Many species of the two above-named plants are weeds 

 of cultivation, and have been probably introduced 

 from Europe. 



Several frequent salt-marshes, and have acquired 

 peculiar forms, as salt induces a fleshiness of the stem 

 and leaves, e.g. Salicor'nea hcrhacea, the Marsh 

 Samphire of England, which is a fleshy-stemmed herb 

 without leaves, and occurs in the Cape Flats. The 



