CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 107 



Seed-time: Late August to November. 



Range : Manitoba to the Northwest Territory, through the Middle 



West to Arizona. 

 Habitat : Plains ; sandy soil ; fields, waste places. 



A low and broadly branching plant, six to twenty inches in 

 height, the stem and branches somewhat striped and angular, with 

 reddish joints, often webby-haired when young but soon becoming 

 smooth. Leaves one to three inches long, lance-shaped, with wavy 

 and irregular but sharp teeth, narrowing at base to short, slim 

 petioles ; when young they are pale green, but they usually turn 

 dark purple as the plant matures. Flowers in loosely spreading, 

 interrupted panicles, very small, sessile, and scattered unevenly on 

 the spikes ; calyx urn-shaped, with five pointed lobes, keeled and 

 curved inward, around the base of which develops a thin, mem- 

 branous, horizontal wing, or border; stamens five; styles three 

 or occasionally two. Seed flattened and horizontal, crusta- 

 ceous. (Fig. 64.) 



As the plants mature the empurpled leaves fall away, the spread- 

 ing branches harden and bend their tips inward, the brittle stems 

 part from the roots close to the ground, and after that the plants 

 are tumbleweeds, at the sport of varying winds, seeding the soil 

 over which they roll. 



Means of control 



Destroy while young by hoe-cutting or hand-pulling. Maturing 

 plants should be cut and burned. Stragglers of roadsides and waste 

 land should receive attention, for a few tumblers from such sources 

 may seed a wide area. 



FIREBALL 



Kdchia Scopdria, Schrad. 



Other English name: Mexican Fireweed. 



Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom: July to September. 



Seed-time: September to November. 



Range: Locally in most of the states ; most common in the Middle 



West. 

 Habitat : Fields, waste places. 



