ANNUAL GOOSEFOOT OR WHITE QUINOA 313 



ANNUAL GOOSEFOOT or WHITE QUINOA 



Chenopodium Quinoa^ Willd. Chenopodiacea. 

 French, Anserine Quinoa blanc. German, Pemanischer Reis-Spinat. 



Native- of Peru. Annual. Stem 4 to 6 ft. high ; leaves arrow- 

 shaped, divided into three not very deep lobes, smooth, glaucous, 

 mealy, and of thin texture ; flowers small, green, in compact 

 corymbs; seeds round and flat, small and white. Their germinating 

 power lasts for four years. 



CULTURE. The plant is grown in the same way as Orache. 

 The seed is sown in April, where the plants are to stand. The 

 young plants should be thinned out 8 in. apart every way, and 

 plentifully watered in hot weather, which is the only attention they 

 require. The seed ripens in August or September. 



USES. The leaves are eaten like Spinach. In Peru the seeds 

 are used in soups, cakes, and also for making a kind of beer. 

 Before they are used for any of these purposes, they should be 

 subjected to a preliminary boiling, in order to remove the acrid 

 principle which they contain, and which, if allowed to remain, 

 would render the flavour very unpleasant. 



PERENNIAL GOOSEFOOT or GOOD KING HENRY 

 Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus, L. Chenopodiacece. 



French, Anserine Bon- Henri. German, Gemeiner Gansefuss. Flemish and Dutch, 

 Ganzevoet. Italian, Bono Enrico. 



Native of Europe. Perennial. Stem about 2\ ft. high, smooth, 

 slightly channelled ; leaves alternate, long-stalked, arrow-shaped, 

 undulated, smooth, and dark green, frosted or mealy on the under- 

 surface, rather thick and fleshy ; flowers small, green, in close, 

 compact clusters ; seeds black, small, kidney-shaped. Their ger- 

 minating power lasts for five years. 



CULTURE AND USES. This plant, being perennial and 

 extremely hardy, will grow and yield abundantly for several years, 

 without any attention except the occasional use of the hoe. It is 

 easily raised from seed, which is best sown in spring, either where 

 the plants are to stand or, preferably, in a seed-bed. In the latter 

 case, the seedlings are pricked out once before they are permanently 

 planted out 16 in. apart every way. The leaves are eaten like 

 Spinach, and it has been suggested to use the shoots, like 

 Asparagus, as a very early vegetable, blanched by simply earthing 

 them up. 



An excellent vegetable for Eng- almost every garden having its bed, 



land, and deserves to be more which, if placed in a warm corner 



generally planted. It is extensively and well manured, yields an abun- 



grown by the Lincolnshire farmers, dant supply of delicious shoots a 



