194 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



The names by which this plant is known are 

 German Knotgrass, Knawel, Knotgrass, Parsley Pert 

 or Piert. The latter name is a common one for 

 Alchemilla arvensis, a plant which is frequently found 

 in association with it, but with which it cannot be 

 readily confused. 



ScLERANTHUS ANNUUS. — III the Ukistration [Fig. 

 54) the tufted habit is shown, also the forked stems, the 

 awl-like, linear, bent-back leaves, and the tufted flowers, 

 in the axils, or terminal. 



61. The Goosefoot Group. 



A common characteristic of the Order Chenopod- 

 iacese is the shape of the leaves, which resemble 

 that of a goose's foot, except in the case of Good King 

 Henry in which they are more spear-shaped. 



There are about five hundred species in this Order, 

 included in some seventy-five genera. Being largely 

 halophilous the distribution, as shown by Bunge, is 

 peculiar, and embraces Australia, the Pampas, Prairies, 

 Mediterranean coasts. Karoo, Red Sea borders, S.W. 

 Caspian coasts. Central Asia, from the Caspian to the 

 Himalayan region, the salt steppes of Eastern Asia. 



Being halophilous they exhibit adaptations to resist 

 drought, as the character of the soil in the salt regions 

 in which they grow retards absorption by the roots, 

 owing to the excess of mineral salts in the soil water, 

 causing physiological drought. Here, also, physical 

 drought in turn plays as great a part. 



