204 FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



or lobed. Ujiper leaves narrower, nearly entii'e, and acute. Flowers 

 in small, dense clusters, forming rather long, erect spikes. The 

 green perianth docs not completely cover the fruit. Common 

 on roadsides and waste ground, flowering in August and September. 



4. White Goose-foot {C. album). — A very common plant, varying 

 in colour from a pale green to a mealy white. Stem stout, erect, 

 from one to three feet high. Lower leaves stalked, ovate or rhom- 

 boid, more or less toothed or angular, but entire at the base. Upper 

 leaves lanceolate, entire. Spikes of flowers irregularly clustered, 

 leafy, and usually branched ; the upper ones forming a long panicle, 

 intermixed with the upper leaves. Perianth entiiely covering the 

 fruit. 



5. Fig-leaved Goose-foot (C ficifolium) — by some regarded 

 as a distinct species, but by others included among the varieties 

 of C. album. It closely resembles the latter in general appearance, 

 but its lower leaves are divided into three unequal lobes, and are 

 somewhat spear-shaped. 



6. Red Goose-foot [C. ruhrum). — An erect plant, from one to 

 three feet liigh, with smooth, triangular, irregularly-toothed leaves, 

 resembhng those of the Upright Goose-foot. The spikes, also, 

 closely resemble those of the same plant, but the flowers have 

 generally only two or three segments to the perianth, and these often 

 turn red as the fruit ripens. The flowers appear during August 

 and September. This species is moderately common in most parts, 

 and especially near the sea, where it may be seen growing on the 

 shingle very close to the water's edge. 



7. Mercury Goose-foot, Allgood, or Good King Henry (C. Bonus- 

 Henricus). — An erect plant, from one to three feet high, growing 

 from a thick, fleshy root like that of the Dock. Leaves stalked, 

 triangular, acute, wavy or toothed, of a dark green colour. Upper 

 leaves smaller, and ahnost sessile. Flowers in clustered, compound 

 spikes, forming a terminal panicle, leafy below. Fruit completely 

 enclosed in the perianth. This plant was formerly cultivated as 

 a potherb, and is now commonly found on waste ground near 

 villages. Time of flowering — June to August. 



In the same order we have the Common Orache {Atriplex 

 patula) — a very variable plant, from a few inches to tliree feet in 

 height, with erect or prostrate stem, and more or less mealy in 

 appearance. Lower leaves triangular, with spreading lobes at 

 the base. Upper leaves narrower, and entii'e or shghtly toothed 

 Flowers in simple spikes, forming leafy, terminal panicles. They 



