CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 



113 



good " greens " as its cultivated relatives, the spinach and the beet ; 

 also, it is a frequent host of the insect enemies, mildews, and rusts 

 that injure those plants. (Fig. 69.) 



The stem sometimes attains to six feet, but is usually two to four 

 feet tall, stout, erect, ridged and grooved, much branched, often 

 striped with pink or purple, growing from 

 a short, stout main root with many 

 branching rootlets. Leaves rhombic- 

 ovate or goosefoot-shaped near the base, 

 but become more narrow and lance- 

 shaped as they ascend the stem until 

 those near the top are often nearly 

 linear; smooth and green above but 

 often covered on the under side with a 

 mealy secretion, especially when young, 

 the lower ones irregularly cut and 

 toothed, with petioles often as long as the 

 blades. Flowers small, green, crowded 

 on spiked panicles in the axils and at 

 the summit of stem and branches ; calyx 

 with five lobes, keeled and enfolding the 

 seed, which is lens-shaped, small and 

 black; these seeds have very long vi- 

 tality, lying dormant in the soil for 

 years and germinating when brought 

 near the surface by cultivation. Pig- 

 weed seeds are nearly always found in 

 dirty grain, and often in clover and 

 grass seed and in alfalfa ; though, being F IG . 69. Smooth Pigweed 

 lighter, they should be easily removed. (Chenopodium album), x i. 



Means of control 



In hoed crops the weed is very persistent and cultivation should 

 be continued until late in the season, else the soil will be strewn with 

 late matured seeds. In gardens and other small areas, it should be 

 hoe-cut or hand-pulled while young. When the plant appears in 

 grain fields, it should be harrowed out with one of the small-toothed 

 harrows known as weeders, in the spring, when the grain is but 



