318 CHENOPODIACEJB. 



below, tip obtuse or rounded, base cuneate. Spikes J-l in., simple or com- 

 pound, terminal and axillary. Seeds variable, very small, the horizontal 

 largest. DISTRIB. Europe, Canaries, Siberia, W. Asia to the Himalaya, 

 N. America, S. Chili, New Zealand, Australia. 



SECTION 3. Perenuial, glabrous or nearly so. Flowers all 5-merous, 

 or lateral 2-3-androus. Seeds nearly all vertical. Styles 2-5, very long. 



9. C. Bo ims-Henri'cus, L. ; leaves triangular-hastate subacute, spikes 

 mostly in a compound leafless panicle, sepals not keeled toothed at tin- 

 tip broadly scarious, seeds large tumid black not keeled. All-good. 

 Waste places, often near houses, from Ross southwards ; ascends to 1,200 ft. 

 in the N. of England; common in Ireland ; a native? Watson; fl. _May- 

 Aug. Rootstock stout, fleshy, branched. Stem, stout, erect or ascending, 

 1-3 ft., papillose. Leaves 24 in., succulent, papillose beneath, variable in 

 shape, entire or sparingly sinuate-toothed, petiole of lower long, basal lobes 

 often large acute and spreading. Spikes 1-2 in., dense-flowered. Sepal* 

 shorter than the utricle. Stamens 2-5, rarely 0. Seed punctulate. DISTRIB. 

 Europe, Siberia ; introd. in N. America. Cultivated as a pot-herb in Lin- 

 colnshire, and called "Mercury." 



3. A'TRIPLEX, Tournef. ORACHK. 



Herbs or shrubs, mealy or scaly. Leaves alternate or opposite, petioled, 

 often hastate, entire or sinuate-toothed. Flowers small, 1 -sexual, ebracteate ; 

 clusters usually in branched cymes. MALE. Sepals 3-5. Stamciis 3-5, 

 hypogynous, filaments filiform. Ovary rudimentary. FEMALE. Sepals 

 2, free or connate. Stamens 0. Styles 2, filiform, connate at the base. 

 Utricle compressed, enclosed in the enlarged calyx. Seed compressed, 

 vertical or horizontal, albumen floury ; embryo annular. DISTRIB. Shores 

 and waste places ; species 50-60. ETYM. The old Latin name. 



SUB-GEN. 1. A triplex proper. Annuals. Flowers monoecious; sepals 

 of female united below. Pericarp not adherent to the sepals. Testa 

 crustaceous. Radicle basal or sublateral. 



1. A. patula, L. ; mealy, stem erect or ascending striped, branches 



spreading, leaves deltoid hastate or rhombic, floral usually broad, sepals 



rhombic or deltoid usually toothed and tubercled not or rarely hardened. 



Waste places, manure-heaps, &c. ; fl. June-Oct. Very variable, 6in.-3ft., 



rarely prostrate, less mealy than A. laciniata. Female jl. mostly mixed 



with the males, but a few axillary ones occur separately. Fruitin>i * /><n'x 



usually -J in. diam. except in sub-sp. Babingtonii, excessively variable in 



form, length of free portion, toothing and sculpture ; base hastate truncate 



or deltoid. Seeds usually of two fonns, largest A-J in. diam., dark brown, 



much compressed ; smallest tV-A, smooth and shining. DISTRIB. Most cool 



(Arctic) parts of the globe, native or naturalized. 



Sub-sp. PAT'ULA proper ; erect or decumbent, deep green, sparingly mealy, 

 lower leaves opposite rhombic or rhombic-hastate with ascending cusps acute 

 entire or serrate, spikes dense simple leafy below, sepals united at the base 

 only deltoid, seeds all vertical. Common, extending to India ; ascends to 

 1,000 ft. in the N. of England. VAR. 1, angmtij'o'lla, Sm. (sp.); stem weak 

 procumbent, branches divaricate, leaves subentire, spikes long lax panicled, 

 sepals usually smooth. VAR. 2, erecfta, Huds. (sp.) ; stem erect or ascending, 



