74 KEY AND FLORA 



varying from rhombic-ovate to (the uppermost) nearly linear, nar- 

 rowed at the base, acute, somewhat angulate-toothed, 1-4 in. long. 

 Spikes terminal and in the leaf axils, often panicled. Calyx with 

 keeled lobes, in fruit nearly covering the smooth seed. A common 

 and troublesome weed. Naturalized from Europe. 



4. C. urbicum L. UPRIGHT GOOSEFOOT. Annual, little or not at 

 all mealy. Stem stout, erect, and with erect branches, 1-3 ft. high. 

 Leaves halberd -shaped or triangular, acute, coarsely and sharply 

 toothed, except the upper ones, the larger ones 3-6 in. long. Spikes 

 in a narrow, erect panicle. Lobes of the calyx not keeled. Waste 

 ground. Naturalized from Europe. 



27. AMARANTHACE^l. AMARANTH FAMILY 



Mostly herbs, with nearly the characters of the Chenopodia- 

 cece, but with usually 3 dry, translucent, persistent, often 

 colored, bracts beneath the flower. Most of the genera are 

 tropical ; our commonest species are troublesome weeds, usu- 

 ally flowering in midsummer or later. 



AMARANTHUS L. 



Mostly annual herbs. Leaves alternate, simple, thin, usually 

 entire, often bristle-tipped. Flowers mostly 3-bracted, small, 

 green or purplish in our wild species, in axillary clusters or 

 dense terminal spikes. Calyx of 5 or sometimes 3 distinct 

 erect sepals. Stamens distinct, usually 5, anthers 2-celled. 

 Styles or stigmas 2 or 3. Fruit small, bladdery, 1-seeded, with 

 2 or 3 beaks formed by the withered styles. 



1. A. graecizans L. TUMBLEWEED. Smooth, pale green. Stem 

 diffusely branched, whitish, the branches slender, ascending. Leaves 

 small, varying from obovate to spatulate, obtuse or retuse, |-1| in. 

 long. Flowers greenish, in small axillary clusters, covered by stiff, 

 sharp-pointed bracts. Sepals 3. In waste ground and a common 

 field and garden weed. In the autumn the leaves drop and the globu- 

 lar stem and branches roll freely about before the wind. 



2. A. spinosus L. SPINY AMARANTH. Stem stout, ridged, smooth, 

 bushy-branched, often red, 1-4 ft. high. Leaves varying from ovate 

 to lanceolate, tapering to both ends, dull green, -3 in. long, each 

 with a pair of stiff spines in its axil. Flower clusters of two sorts, 



