GOOSEFOOT TKtBE S9 



the enlarged perianth. Name from the Greek a, not, and trephein, to 

 nourish. 



III. The Glasswort Group (Salicorniece). 

 Floioers ])erfect ; stem jointed. 



4. Glasswort (SaUcdrnia). — Perianth top-shaped, fleshy, undivided; 

 stamens 1 — 2 ; styles 2, very short ; stigma 2-cleft ; fruit inclosed in the 

 dry swollen perianth. Name from sal, salt, and cornu, a horn, from the 

 alkaline salt abounding in the plants, and from its horn-shaped branches. 



IV. The Sea-Blite Group (Sucedece). 

 Flowers usually perfect ; stem without joints. 



5. Sea-Blite {Suceda). — Perianth 5-cleft, without a wing at the back ; 

 stamens 5 ; style 2 ; flowers with two bracts at the base. Name from suced, 

 the Arabic appellation of another of the species. 



6. Saltwort {Sdlsola). — Perianth 5-cleft, with a wing at the back; 

 stamens 5 ; stigmas 2 to 3, long. Name from sal, salt. 



1. Beet (Beta). 



Common Beet {B. vulgaris). — Stems erect or prostrate, angled, 

 branched ; leaves egg-shaped, narrowed into a leaf-stalk ; spikes long, 

 narrow, somewhat erect, leafy, panicled ; flowers 2 or 3 together, sessile ; 

 segments of the perianth with entire keels; perennial. This is a very 

 common sea-side plant in England, as well as in some southern districts qf 

 Scotland. It grows on sea-cliff's, sea-beaches, muddy shores, and also in sa^t 

 marshes, not of the sea only, but of some rivers, which, like the Medway, in 

 Kent, partake of the saltness of the sea. It has a tall succulent stem, often 

 two feet high, sometimes ]^rostrate below, and afterwards ascending ; and its 

 leaves, which are in summer of a rich deep uniform green, vary in autumn 

 to the most beautiful shades of crimson and purple. As some of the foliage 

 retains its rich verdant hue, the plant exhibits the most lovely tints just 

 when vegetation in general is assuming the " sere and yellow leaf "; and the 

 rich crimson seems to the author to be deeper and more general when the 

 plant is growing on the chalk cliff, than when on the muddy shore or salt 

 marsh. The leaves are thick, succulent, glossy, and waved ; the lower ones 

 on stalks, the upper ones on the flowering stem. There is nothing attractive 

 in the flowers, which from June to September grow in leafy spikes, the 

 numerous small green blossoms being arranged about two together, Avith a 

 small pale green leaf at the base of each flower or pair of flowers. The root 

 is large, thick, and fleshy, and has a sweetish flavour. 



Large quantities of this Sea-Beet are to be found on many shores, as on 

 those of Dover ; and it is sometimes gathered and carried about for sale, but 

 is not valued as it deserves to be. The author, who has tested the worth of 

 several plants used by our forefathers, either as boiled vegetables, or as salad 

 herbs, has found many of them little suited to the palates long accustomed 

 to the cultivated vegetables now so common ; but the Sea-Beet deserves all 



IIL— 12 



