GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 285 



prickly pointed leaves, and flesh-colored horizontal wings on the back of the 

 fruiting calyx, making a circular broad border. 



1. BOUSSINGAULTIA. (Named for the traveller and agricultural 



chemist, Boussingault.) 



B, baselloides, of South America : high twining plant, in cultivation her- 

 baceous, from oblong tubers resembling small potatoes : smooth, with some- 

 what heart-shaped succulent leaves, and slender racemes of deliciously fragrant 

 small flowers in autumn. ^ 



2. BETA, BEET. (Latin name.) One species in cultivation, viz. : — 



B. vulgaris, Common Beet, from S. Eu. : cult, in many varieties, with 

 ovatc-oblong smooth often wavy-margined leaves, sometimes purple-tinged ; 

 flower-clusters spiked ; root conical or spindle-shaped. Mangel Wurtzel or 

 ScAuciTY-RooT is a mere variety, the root used for feeding cattle. @ 



3. SPINACIA, SPINACH. (Name from Latin for spine or thorn ; prob- 

 ably from the horns or projections on the fruiting-calyx which become rather 

 spiny ill one variety.) 



S. oler&,cea, Commou Spinach, cult, from the Orient, as a pot-herb ; the 

 soft-fleshy leaves triangular or ovate and petioled. ® ® 



4. BLITUM, BLITE. (Ancient Greek and Latin name of some pot-herb 

 or of the Amaranth.) Fl. summer. 



B. capit^um, Strawberry Blite, the flower-heads as the fruit matures 

 becoming bright red and juicy, like strawberries ; leaves triangular and halberd- 

 shaped, wavy-toothed, smooth and bright green. Dry banks, margins of woods, 

 &c. N., sometimes in gardens. @ Q) 



B. Bonus-Henricus, Good-King-Henrt, cult, in some old gardens, is 

 between a Blite and a Goosefoot, being slightly mealy, as in the latter, and the 

 calyx not fleshy nor fully enclosing the fruit, but the seed is vertical ; leaves 

 triangular and partly halberd-shaped ; flower-clusters crowded in an interrupted 

 terminal spike. 2/ 



6. CHENOPODIUM, GOOSEFOOT (which the name denotes in 

 Greek), PIGWEED, &c. Weeds : fl. late summer and autumn. 



§ 1. Either smooth or with scurfy mealiness, insipid, never hairy nor aromatic. (T) 



C. Alburn, White G. or Lamb's-Quarters; the commonest species in all 

 cult, ground : pale, more or less mealy, with leaves varying fi-om. rhombic-ovate 

 to lanceolate, either angled-toothed or entire, and flower-clusters in dense pani- 

 clcd spikes. Var. BosciXnum, wild in shady places, mostly S., has loose 

 branches, obscure mealiness, and smaller loosely clustered flowers. 



C. lirbicum, in waste grounds, is dull green, scarcely mealy, the triangular 

 leaves coarsely and sharply many-toothed, flower-clusters in dense panicled 

 spikes, and seed with rounded margins. 



C. h^bridum, Maple-leaved G. Waste grounds, unpleasantly scented 

 like Stramonium, bright green throughout ; the widely branching stem 2° -4° 

 high ; the tliiu large leaves triangular and heart-shaped, sinuate and angled, the 

 angles extended into a few taper-pointed coarse teeth ; racemes in loose and 

 leafless panicles ; seed sharp-edged. 



§ 2. Not mealy or scurfy, but minutely glandular or pubescent, aromatic-scented: 

 the seed sometimes vertical, (i) @ 



C. Bbtrys, Jerusalem Oak or Feather Geranium. Gardens and 

 some roadsides : Ioav, spreading, almost clammy-pubescent, sweet-scented ; 

 leaves sinuatc-])innatitid, slender-pctioled ; racemes loosely corymbed. 



C. ambrosioides, Mexican Tea, Wormseed. Waste grounds, especi- 

 ally S. : rather stout, smoothish, strong-scented ; leaves oblong or lanceolate, 

 varying from entire to cut-pinnatifld, nearly sessile ; spikes dense, leafy or leaf- 

 less. This, especially the more cu«-leaved var. ANXHELMiNTicuM, is used as a 

 vermifuge, and yields the wormseed-oU, 



