192 roruLAR flora. 



ovaiy, but not adhering to it, and bearing from one to five stamens. Styles 2 to 5, 

 short. "Weeds (several called I'iuweeds), abounding in cultivated or waste grounds, and 

 some are j)ol-]ierbs. The small llowers and fruits make them too diOicult for the be'vinner. 

 The Ibllowing key will k-ad the student to the name of the principal common kinds. 



Leafless fleshy herbs, in salt marshes, with perfect flowers in fleshy spikes, {Salkdrnia) SAJiPHutK. 

 Leafy herbs, with broad or broadish, generally tender leaves, not prickly : calyx wingless. 

 Flowers perfect. 



In clusters or spiked heads: calyx becoming berry-like, altogether making a 



strawberry -like red pulpy fruit, {DUliim) Blite. 



Li small sessile clusters collected in spikes or panicles : calyx dry and herba- 

 ceous. 

 Akene thick and hard, below adherent to the calyx. Leaves smooth, (Bttn) *Beet. 

 Akeue very thin and breaking away from the seed. Leaves often meal^^ 



Pigweeds, ( Chenopodium) Goosefoot. 



Flowers monoecious: the fertile ones single in the axils of the leaves. Sea-coast, and 



one rarely cultivated as a pot-herb, (A'triplcx) Orache. 



Flowers dioecious, in spiked clusters: calyx over the fruit, with 2 to 4 horns or pro- 

 jections: leaves arrow-shaped, (Splnacin) * Spinach. 

 Leafy and much-branched plants on the sea-shore ; the leaves awl-shaped and prickly- 

 tipped: flowers perfect: calyx winged in fruit, (Salsula) Saltwort. 



78. AMAHANTH FAMILY. Order AMARANTACEiE. 



Herbs, much like the last family in almost every character, except that the 

 flowers are furnished with 3 or more dry and scale-like thin bracts : these are 

 sometimes brightly colored, so as to make showy clusters or bunches, and, 

 being dry, they do not wither after blossoming. The little one-seeded pod 

 in many cases is a pyxis (242), that is, it opens round the middle, the U])per 

 part falling off, as a lid. The common species belong mainly to two genera : — ^^^ ^^ ^ ^.^^^ 



araiiih upeuing by 



Flowers in spiked or panicled clusters, terminal or axillary: stamens 5 or 3, separate: » '"i. 

 little pod opening by a lid. To this belongs one kind of Pigweed, and the 

 Prince's Feather, Love-lies-bleeding, Coxcomb, &c., in gardens and 

 enriched soil, (Amardntus) Amaranth. 



Flowers in a head: stamens 5, monadelphous, and the filaments 3-cleft, the middle lobe 



bearing the anther, {Gomphr'ena) *Globe-Amaranth. 



79. BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. Order POLYGONACE^. 



Herbs with alternate entire leaves, and mostly perfect flowers ; with a calyx of 4 to 6 

 sepals (separate or united at the base), and 3 to 9 stamens inserted on its base : ovary one- 

 celled making a one-seeded akene; its styles or stigmas 2 or 3. Besides, this fimiily may 

 always be known by the stipules which form a sheath above each joint (as in Fig. 137). 

 The wateiy juice is often sour, as in Rhubarb and Sorrel, sometimes sharp and biting. 



