290 



CHE 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



CHE 



high, slightly crooked, somewhat angular and striated, solid, 

 branched, smooth, sometimes purplish j branches alternate; 

 racemes axillary, upright, forming a spike of flowers growing 

 in little clusters. -It is whiter than most of the Chenopodia, 

 and varies exceedingly both when young and in its seeding 

 state.' It is the commonest plant of the genus, occurring in 

 every garden, on every dunghill, and in almost every corn- 

 field. It is mentioned by Lightfoot and several other authors, 

 as being boiled and eaten for greens, and is known by the 

 name of fat-hen, or muckweed. Linneus affirms that swine 

 are extremely fond of it ; and yet the fifth and the ninth spe- 

 cies, (Murale and Hybridum) are said to be fatal to this 

 animal; which is contrary to all probability, since the common 

 Goosefoots seem to be mild and gently laxative like Spinach. 



8. Chenopodium Viride ; Green Guosefoot. Leaves rhom- 

 boid, tooth-sinuate; racemes branched, somewhat leafy ; stem 

 upright, green, with purplish angles. This much resembles 

 the foregoing; but the appearance of the whole plant is greener; 

 the bright red colour at the angles of the joints is constant ; 

 the leaf is much longer ; and the pu'is of fructification are 

 smaller. Native of dunghills, &c. and (lowers in August. 



9. Chenopodium Hybridum ; Bastard Goosefoot. Leaves 

 cordate, angular acuminate; racemes branching, naked. 

 Stem from one to two feet high, upright, branched, angular, 

 and perfectly smooth. This species varies the least of any ; 

 the panicle of flowers is peculiarly branched and naked, and 

 has a strong disagreeable smell. Mr. Lightfoot enumerates 

 it among the Scottish plants. It is not common near London, 

 being observed only in Battersea-fields, and about North fleet : 

 it has been found also near Ely and Colchester. If any of 

 the genus be poisonous, this must be the species. 



10. Chenopodium Botrys ; Cluster or Cut-leaved Goosefoot, 

 or Oak of Jerusalem. Leaves oblong sinuate; racemes naked, 

 multifid. This sends up several stems from the root, which 

 rise about two feet high ; flowers axillary from the upper part 

 of the branches, in loose racemes : they appear in July, and 

 the seeds ripen in September. When bruised, the leaves emit 

 a very strong odour; somewhat like that of Ambrosia ; and 

 for this principally the plant is preserved in gardens, for the 

 flowers have no beauty. Native of the south of Europe. A 

 few of this, and of the eleventh species, which will come up 

 of themselves, may be transplanted in the spring into pots 

 filled with kitchen -garden earth, to be preserved through the 

 winter ; and the others may be planted in the common bor- 

 ders, where they will flower and perfect their seeds. 



11. Chenopodium Ambrosioides ; Mexican Goosefoot, or 

 flak of Cappadocia. Leaves lanceolate, toothed ; racemes 

 leafy, simple. Stem from twelve to eighteen inches high, 

 sometimes reddish, round, striated, with fine scattered hairs; 

 leaves pale green, oblong, sinuated. Native of Mexico. The 

 leaves and flowery heads have a strong and not unpleasant 

 smell, and a moderately aromatic taste, somewhat bitterish; 

 on much handling them, an unctuous juice adheres to the 

 fingers. The proper menstruum of their active matter is 

 rectified spirit ; but boiling water will also extract it. The 

 infusions, which are not unpalatable, arc said to be of service 

 in humoral asthmas and coughs, and other disorders of the 

 breast : they are supposed also to be antispasmodic and anti- 

 hysteric. The seed is reckoned among the anthelminthics, 

 and the dried herb is put among clothes, to keep away moths. 



12. Chenopodium Multifidum ; Buenos Ayres (ioosefovt. 

 Leaves multifid ; segments linear ; flowers axillary, sessile. 

 This rises with a shrubby stalk three or four feet high; with 

 rtblong leaves cut into many linear segments. It grows natu- 

 rally at Buenos Ayres. It is perennial ; and, retaining its 

 leaves through the year, will add to the variety in a green- [ 



house, during the winter; but it has little other beauty to 

 recommend it. It may be propagated by cuttings. 



13. Chenopodium Anthelminticum ; H Urmseed d'<>v 

 Leaves ovate-oblong, toothed ; racemes leafless. Stems three 

 cubits high, straight, stiff, grooved, hairy, dividing into fev> 

 branches to the middle, but above that more branched. 

 Native of Buenos Ayres, of Pennsylvania, and New .!<TM v. 

 where it is called Worm-seed, and Jerusalem Oak. It has ;i 

 disagreeable scent ; and the seeds are given to children 

 against the worms. 



14. Chenopodium Glaucum ; Oak-lravrd Goosefoot. L- 

 ovute-oblong, repand ; racemes naked, simple glonn 

 Root annual ; stems twelve to eighteen inches high, tliicki.h, 

 branched, and spreading, often prostrate, striated with i 

 and white ; leaves alternate, petioled, green, and smooth 

 above, mealy and white beneath ; flowers green, in small, 

 axillary, and terminal racemes, Native of several )>;' 

 Europe ; and in England found chiefly in the neighbourhood 

 of London ; flowering in August. 



15. Chenopodium Quinoa. Leaves triangularly egg-shaped, 

 obsoletely toothed, the younger ones mealy; racemes crowded, 

 shorter than the petioles ; root annual ; stem three feet high, 

 erect, branched. Native of Chili. It is eaten in Pe;-ti as 

 Spinach or Sorrel, and the seed as Millet. 



** With simple Leaves. 



16. Chenopodium Vulvaria ; Stinking Goosefoot. Leaves 

 quite entire, rhomboid-ovate ; flowers conglomerate, axillary. 

 The whole plant is sprinkled with a white pellucid meal ; stems 

 numerous, spreading, round, somewhat striated, and thinly 

 beset with leaves, which are alternate, petioled. This spe- 

 cies is easily known by its decumbency, and its permanently 

 disagreeable odour, both green and dried, resembling that of 

 stale salt fish. It is common on dry banks, and at the foot 

 of walls and pailings. It is reckoned a useful antihysteric ; 

 some recommend a conserve of the leaves, others an infusion 

 in water, and others a spirituous tincture of them : on some 

 occasions it may perhaps be preferable to the fetids which 

 have been more commonly made use of, as not being accom- 

 panied by any pungency or irritation, and seeming to act 

 merely by virtue of its odorous principle. It is omitted in 

 the last edition of the London Pharmacopoeia, and, as Alion:- 

 affirms, is not undeservedly neglected. The herb d- 

 good strong greenish lemon-colour. 



17. Chenopodium Polyspermum ; Round-leaved Goosefoot, 

 Upright Blite, or Allseed. Leaves quite entire, ovate; stem 

 decumbent: cymes dichotomous, leafless, axillary. The 

 stalk is generally of a bright red colour, with long extended 

 branches, and reddish seeds, which are numerous and stri!\- 

 ingly visible, from being only in part covered with thecalix 

 Mr. Curtis remarks, that it is a troublesome weed to the 

 gardener, but scarcely injurious to the fanner. Woodward 

 and Ray, however, affirm that it is generally found in Turnip- 

 fields, and that it grows abundantly in Hop grounds, and 

 among corn where the soil is good. It is a very gru 

 food to fish in ponds. 



18. Chenopodium Scoparia; Fla.r-leitrrd Goosifnot, 1' 

 dere, or Sunnier Cypress. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 quite entire. Stem round, three feet high or more, slemlci. 

 clothed with short hairs ; leaves ciliated about the edge, nerved 

 bcne-ilh; flowers greenish, in small se.-silo clusters. It i 1 - .1 

 beautiful plant, naturally disposed togrow very close and th 

 and in as regular a pyramid as if cut by art. The leave 



of a pleasant green, and were it not for that, it so str.> 

 resembles the Cypress, that at sonic distance it mig: 

 mistaken for it. According to Scopoli, this plant drives w:it 

 bugs. It grows wild in Carniola, Greece, China, and .' 



