366 GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 



I 



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



B. vulgaris, Linn. COMMON BEET. From S. Eu.; cult, in many varie- 

 ties, with ovate-oblong, smooth, often wavy-margined leaves, sometimes 

 purple-tinged ; flower clusters spiked ; root conical or spindle-shaped. 

 MANGEL-WURZEL is a variety, the large root used for feeding cattle. 

 Swiss CHARD is a form with broad petioles, used as a pot herb. There 

 are also ornamental-leaved forms. (2) 



5. ATRIPLEX, ORACH. (Latin, from the Greek, not nourishing.} 



* Upright or erect, green. 



A. hortense, Linn. ORACH. Tall and strict (3-4) ; leaves cordate- 

 ovate and large, sinuate-notched, or those near the inflorescence becom- 

 ing lance-ovate and entire, all slender-petioled ; flowers in a large ter- 

 minal panicle, the heart-shaped fruiting bracts conspicuous and often 

 colored. Old World. Sometimes cult, as a substitute for Spinach. 



A. patulum, Linn. Erect or sometimes prostrate, glabrous or slightly 

 scurfy ; leaves narrowly lanceolate-hastate, entire or somewhat sinuate- 

 dentate, petioled, the lower ones sometimes opposite, the uppermost 

 becoming linear ; bracts triangular-ovate or rhombic-hastate. Generally 

 distributed, and immensely variable in form of leaves. 



* * Diffusely spreading, white-mealy. 



A. arenarium, Nutt. Leaves oblong and narrowed at the base, nearly 

 sessile ; bracts broadly wedge-form and united, 2-5-toothed. Coast, 

 Mass., S. 



6. CORISPERMUM, BUG-SEED (which the name means in Greek, 

 from the oval, flat fruit.) 



C. hyssopifdlium, Linn. In sands along the Great Lakes and W.; 

 pale, diffusely branched, and sometimes becoming a tumble weed in fall, 

 glabrous, or hairy when young ; fruits wing-margined, in terminal inter- 

 rupted spikes. 



7. SU-STDA, SEA BLITE. (Arabic name.) Uninteresting saline 

 plants, often running into perplexing forms. 



S. linearis, Moq. The only species in the East, is either erect or 

 prostrate, l-2, branched ; leaves 2' or less long, narrow at the base, not 

 spine-like ; bracts acuminate, on slender branchlets. Seacoast. 



8. SALSOLA, SALTWORT. (Latin, salty.) 



S. Kali, Linn. Diffusely branched, rough or nearly smooth ; leaves 

 short, stiff and prickly-pointed, 2-4 times longer than the bracts ; calyx 

 often reddish, forming a beak-like body over the fruit, the wings thick 

 and less prominent than the calyx lobes. Seashore, N. Eng., S. 



Var. Tragus, Moq. RUSSIAN THISTLE, RUSSIAN CACTUS. More bushy 

 and rigid ; leaves of mature plant only a little longer than the leaf-like 

 bracts ; calyx membranaceous and generally bright rose color, the wings 

 much longer than the calyx lobes. Introd. into the Upper Miss, valley 

 and the plains (also in N.Y.) from N. Eu., and now a pernicious weed. 



9. SALICORNIA, GLASSWORT, SAMPHIRE. (Latin: salt and 

 horn, from the habitat and the horn-like branches.) 



S. mucronata, Bigel. Erect and stout, naked below, becoming red ; 

 spikes thick, the scales conspicuous and pointed. Seacoast, Va., N, 



