APETAL^ 197 



temperature by transforming the light rays into heat 

 in stations where the atmospheric conditions are 

 subject to fluctuation, or where radiation is rapid and 

 the temperature Hable to suddenly fall. The leaves 

 are triangular, rhombic to ovate, entire, with irregular 

 coarse teeth, wavy, blunt or acute, three-nerved below. 



Borne in erect, short, terminal and axillary, leafy 

 panicled spikes, which are dense and compound, 

 the flowers are incomplete. There are two or three 

 perianth-segments. They are not keeled, and are 

 narrow, with a membranous border, covering the 

 utricle. The stigma is short. The pericarp is loose. 

 The seeds are small, smooth, brown, shining, with a 

 trace of a keel, and vertical. 



Dwarf plants may be but 2 in. in height, but the 

 Red Goosefoot is sometimes nearly 4 ft. high, flower- 

 ing from August to October. It is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



The flowers are as a rule wind-pollinated. They are 

 inconspicuous, but being reddish may attract small 

 insects, and creeping ones may carry the pollen 

 about. The stigma is ripe in advance of the anthers. 

 The flowers are hermaphrodite, and being numerous 

 in an erect spike wind may readily cause pollination, 

 as there is no corolla and the perianth-segments are 

 few and short. 



The utricle, when ripe, falls off and is dispersed 

 near the plant. 



Fat Hen, Goose-foot, Pig-weed, French Spinach 

 are the names applied to Red Goosefoot. 



