374 THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 



Lower leaves broadly cordate or truncate at the 

 -base. Clusters of flowers chiefly iu a loose, ter- 

 minal, leafy panicle 8. C. hybridum, 



Lower leaves wedge-shaped, or narrow at the base. 

 Clusters of flowers in axillary spikes, or in a 

 short, terminal, leafy panicle. 

 Axillary spikes erect, simple, or but little branched. 



Seeds horizontal 6. C. urbicum. 



Seeds vertical . 6. C. rubrum. 



Axillary spikes forked into spreading cymes . . 7. C. murale. 



1. C. Vulvaria, Linn. (fig. 843). StinUng 0. A procumbent or 

 spreading, much branched annual, seldom a foot long, covered with a 

 granular mealiness, and remarkable fo*r a strong, stale-fish smell when 

 rubbed. Leaves small, ovate, all quite entire, on rather long stalks. 

 Clusters of flowers small, in short axillary and terminal racemes, often 

 branched, but not much exceeding the leaves in length. C. olidum, 

 Curt. 



Under walls, in waste and rubbishy places, in Europe and western 

 Asia, extending northwards into southern Scandinavia. Occurs in 

 various parts of England and southern Scotland, more rare in the west, 

 and in Ireland. PL summer and autumn. 



2. C. polyspermum, Linn. (fig. 844). Many -seeded 0. Usually a 

 procumbent or spreading, much-branched annual, with all the leaves 

 quite entire, as in C. Vulvaria, but without the granular mealiness or 

 the nauseous smell of that species. It is also sometimes erect, a foot 

 high, with numerous branches, ascending from the base. Leaves 

 usually rather thin, green, ovate, to 2 inches long. Clusters of flowers 

 small, in short axillary spikes ; the upper ones forming an irregular 

 terminal spike or narrow panicle. Calyx-segments thin, green, not 

 covering the fruit as in C. album. 



In cultivated and waste places, dispersed all over Europe and Russian 

 Asia, except the extreme north. In Britain, limited to England and 

 the Channel Islands. PL summer and autumn. 



3. C. album, Linn. (fig. 845). White O. A tough annual, usually 

 erect, 1 to 2 feet high, of a pale green, or more or less mealy-white, 

 especially the flowers and the under side of the leaves. Leaves stalked, 

 the lower ones ovate or rhomboidal, more or less sinuately toothed or 

 angular, the upper ones usually narrow and entire. Clusters of flowers 

 in short axillary spikes, either dense or interrupted, simple or slightly 

 branched ; the upper ones forming a long panicle, leafy at the base. 

 Fruit entirely enclosed in the perianth, and seeds all horizontal. 



In cultivated and waste places, throughout Europe and central and 

 Russian Asia to the Arctic regions, and carried out with cultivation to 

 nearly all parts of the globe. The commonest species in Britain. Fl. 

 all summer and autumn. Specimens may sometimes occur with almost 

 all the leaves entire, but they have not the smell of C. Vulvaria, are 

 usually more erect, and if perfect, the lower leaves at least will always 

 show a tendency to the angular or sinuate form. [0. ficifolium, Sm., 

 included by Bentham under C. album, is a very marked form with 

 oblong-hastate leaves, and smaller dotted seeds which are not keeled. 

 C. viride, Linn., is a variety with green not mealy leaves and long lax 

 spikes.] 



4. C. glauciim, Linn. (fig. 846). Glaucous O. Sometimes a low, 

 procumbent plant, like C. Vulvaria, sometimes more erect, but not 00 



