CHENOPODIACEiE. (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY.) 679 



racemes or cymes, forming a narrow, stiff, leafy panicle ; sepals keeled, 

 appressed to fruit ; seed glossy, finely dotted, with obtuse margins — 

 May to September — Fields, especially along coast. 



4. C. niurale, L. Fiss-el-Kelab. Muntiiieh. SeTcrdn. JSuntar. 

 Zurheih. Mittein. Shajaret-el-3futemeh. .3 to .5, green; stems ascending, 

 branching from base. Leaves rhombic-ovate to oblong, .03 to .05 long, 

 acute, unequally and acutely dentate. Cymes axillary, rather loose, 

 divaricating ; sepals keeled, enclosing fruit; seeds opaque, rough-dotted^ 

 with acute margins — Marcli to November — Waste places ; everywhere' 



5. C. urbicum, L. © .3 to .8, green; stem stiffly and sparingly 

 branched. Leaves fleshy, erect, green, glossy at upper surface, sometimes 

 mealy at lower, the lower and middle triangular, tapering at base into 

 a petiole, acute, irregularly acute-toothed, the upper rhombic and 

 lanceolate, nearly entire. Flower-clusters in dense, long, interrupted 

 sjnkes, forming a long narrow thyrsus, leafy lelow; sepals not Tceeled, 

 nor appressed to fruit; seeds dotted, obtuse — March to October — 

 Lower regions of Lebanon. 



* * Embryo forming tioo-thirds of a ring. Aromatic herbs. 



6. C. Botry§, L. Jerusalem Oak. Feather Geranium. .3 to 

 .5, glandular-pubescent, viscid; stem branching from base and above, 

 branches ascending. Lower leaves petioled, oblong, obtusely simiate- 

 pinnatifid, upper oblanceolate-spathulate, the uppermost entire. Cymes 

 axillary, short, spreading, forming a long, stiff, narroio thyrsus nearly 

 leafless above; sepals keelless, enclosing seeds; seeds horizontal, nearly 

 globular, with obtusely keeled margin — July to November — Coast 

 and lower mountains. 



7. C, ainbro§ioides, L. Mexican Tea. .3 to .6, puberulent; 

 stem grooved, paniculate. Leaves short-petioled, oblong to lanceolate, 

 more or less sinuate-dentate, glandular at lower surface, the upper leaves 

 entire. Racemes spi^e-liJce, ascending or spreading, elongated, forming 

 a long, leafy panicle ; fruiting calyx closed ; sepals keelless ; seeds hori- 

 zontal, nearly globular, glossy — Spring — Ditches; Beirut. Plant with 

 a strong, aromatic, not unpleasant smell. 



2. BETA, L. Beet. Shemandur. 



Flowers perfect, 3-bracted, Perigonium 5-cleft, urn-shaped, some- 

 what adherent at base to the utricle, the tube at length indurated. Sta- 

 mens 5, inserted on the fleshy rim which surrounds the ovary. Stigmas 

 2-3. Utricle globular, included in tube of perigonium. Seed horizon- 

 tal — Annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, with axillary, or terminal, 

 spiked flowers, solitary, or, if clustered, 2-3 together, connate at base, 

 so as to form a s^Durious compound fruit which is deciduous in one 

 mass. 



1. B. vulgariiiii, L. d) Beet. Shemandur. Libddn. Dirs-el- 

 Kelb. Fijl-bul-leil. Silq. .3 to .5, Stems simple or panicled. Root-leaves 

 ovate, obtuse, cuneate, sometimes subcordate; cauline rlwmbic-ovate 

 to lanceolate and linear. Flowers 2-3 in a cluster or solitary, arranged 

 in long, slender, leafy or leafless, interrupted spikes ; calyx herbaceous, 

 lobes oblong, hooded, in fruit liceled, and thiclcened at base into a tuber- 

 cle ; stigmas 2 — September to April — Coast ; Jordan Valley and Dead 

 Sea Valleys. 



