67 CHENOPODIACEAE l8i 



14. Bracts free, peltate, deciduous. Perianth 3-parted. Stamen i, inserted 



in front. Ovule on a long, curved, almost ring-shaped funiclc. Mic- 

 ropyle and radicle superior. Shrubs. — Species i. North Africa 



to Eritrea. Yields soda Halocnemum Marsch. Bieb. 



Bracts united, persistent ; flower-clusters apparently sunk in hollov.'s of 

 the branch-ioints. Perianth 3 — 4-toothed or -cleft. Stamen i, 

 inserted behind, or stamens 2. Ovule on a short funicle. Micropyle 

 and radicle in^'erior 15 



15. Seed smooth or tubercled ; embryo curved ; albumen abundant, lateral. 



Stamens 2. Stigmas 2. Shrubs. — Species 3. North and Central 

 Africa. They yield soda and are used in medicine. Arthrocnemum Moq. 

 Seed hairy ; embryo folded together ; albumen scanty and central or 

 wanting. — Species 4. Sea-coasts. They yield soda and arc used in 

 medicine Salicornia L. 



16. Flowers unisexual, sometimes intermixed with a few hermaphrodite, of 



two kinds, the male and hermaphrodite with a 3 — -S-parted perianth and 

 without bracteoles, the female without a perianth, but with 2 sometimes 

 united or 2-parted bracteoles. Stamens 3 — 5. Leaves glabrous, 

 mealy or cottony, usually liastate. [Tribe ATRIPLICEAE.J . 17 

 Flowers hermaphrodite, sometimes intermixed with similar unisexual 

 ones, all with 4 — 5 perianth-segments. 19 



17. Bracteoles small, narrow, free, unchanged in the fruiting stage, not en- 



closing the fruit. Flowers monoecious. Stamens 5. Shrubs. — 



Species 2. South Africa and St. Helena Exomis Fenzl 



Bracteoles large, broad, usually united and hardening, completely en- 

 closing the fruit. . . 18 



18. Bracteoles united nearly to the top, hardened in the fruit and sometimes 



prolonged into 2 — 4 prickles. Flowers dioecious. Stigmas 4 — -5. Stem 

 and leaves glabrous. Herbs. ■ — Species i (S. oleracea L., spinach). 

 Cultivated in the extra-tropical regions. It serves as a vegetable ; 

 the seeds are sometimes used for making bread .... Spinacia L. 

 Bracteoles free and herbaceous, or more or less united, but not nearly to 

 the top, and at length hardened. Stigmas 2- — -3. Stem and leaves 

 clothed, when young, with bladdery hairs, afterwards mostly with a close 

 minute whitish pubescence. ■ — • Species 20. Some are used as vegetables, 

 for making soda, in medicine, or as ornamental plants. "Orachc." (In- 

 cluding Obione Gaertn.) Atripex L. 



IQ. Ovary half-inferior. Perianth-segments connivent in the fruit. Fruit 

 dehiscing by a lid. Herbs with a fleshy taproot. Bracteoles usually 

 present. — Species 3. North Africa and Cape Verde Islands ; one of 

 them {B. vulgaris L., beet) also cultivated in South Africa and Mada- 

 gascar. The latter species yields sugar, vegetables, fodder, and a 

 substitute for coffee and tobacco. [Tribe BETEAE.] Beta L. 

 Ovary superior. Fruit indehiscent, rarely dehiscing by a lid, but then 

 perianth-segments spreading in the fruit 20 



