338 CHENOPODIA GEJE. [CiiENoroDi u M . 



rather opaque, dotted. DISTIIIB. Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia, N.W. India ; 

 introd. in N. America. 



SECTION 2. Annual. Lateral flowers of each cluster usually 2-4- 

 inerous, seed vertical ; terminal 5-.mer.pus, seed horizontal or vertical. 

 Styles short. 



8. C. ru'brum, L. ; glabrous, shining, leaves deltoid or rhombic-ovate, 

 spikes leafy panicled, sepals not keeled covering the utricle narrowly 

 scarious, seed mostly vertical minute brown shining obscurely keeled. 

 Waste places, ditches, salt marshes, &c., from Aberdeen and Clyde southd. ; 



Ireland, very rare ; Channel Islands; fl. Aug.-Sept. Stem 1-3 ft., erect or 

 ascending. Leaves excessively variable, entire irregularly toothed or serrate, 

 obtuse or acute, base 3-nerved. Spikes very short in terminal and axillary 

 panicles. DISTRIB. Europe, N. and W. Asia. 



C. ru'brum proper ; leaves sinuate-serrate not fleshy, panicle leafy to the top, 

 spikes short compact dense -fld. often almost capitate. VAR. pseudo-bot- 

 ryo'des, Wats., is smaller, often reddish, stem slender prostrate, leaves 

 rhomboid almost entire, panicles much reduced. VAR. C. lotryo'des, Sm. ; 

 leaves subentire more triangular fleshy, panicle leafless above. 



9. C. glau'cum, L. ; prostrate, leaves mealy beneath oblong or ovate- 

 oblong sinuate-lobed, spikes short dense leafless, sepals keeled nearly 

 covering the utricle narrowly scarious, seed acutely keeled. 



Waste ground, sporadic and very scarce, Fife to Hants ; indigenous only in 

 S. England; (native? Wats.)-\ fl. Aug.-Sept. Stem 6-18 in., usually 

 spreading, widely branched, shining, glabrous. Leaves ^-1 in., obtuse or 

 rounded, base cuneate. Spikes j 1 in., simple or compound, terminal and 

 axillary. Seeds variable, very small, the horizontal largest. DISTRIB. 

 Europe, N. and W. Asia, Himalaya. N. America, S. Chili, Australasia. 



SECTION 3. Perennial, glabrous, or nearly so. Flmcers all 5-inerous, 

 or lateral 2-3-androus. Seeds nearly all vertical. Styles very long. 



10. C. Bo'ims-Henri'cus, L. ; leaves triangular-hastate subacute, 

 spikes mostly in a compound leafless panicle, sepals not keeled toothed at 

 the tip broadly scarious, seed large tumid black not keeled, ^ill-good. 

 Waste places, often near houses, from Caithness southd. ; ascends to 1,200 ft. 



in N. England; common in Ireland; Channel Islands; (a native? Wats.); 

 fl. May- Aug. Eootstock stout, fleshy, branched. Stem stout, erect or 

 ascending, 1-3 ft., papillose. Leaves 2-4 in., succulent, papillose beneath, 

 variable in shape, entire or sinuate-toothed, petiole of lower long, basal 

 lobes often large acute and spreading. Spikes 1-2 in., dense-fid. Sepals 

 shorter than the utricle. Stamens 2-5, rarely 0. Seed punctulate. DTSTRIB. 

 Europe, Siberia ; introd. in N. America. Cultivated as a pot-herb in Lincoln- 

 shire, and called " Mercury." 



2. BE'TA, L. BEET. 



Herbs. Lraves almost entire. Flowers 2-sexual, in axillary spiked or 

 cyniose fascicles, coheriug in fruit by the enlarged hardened bases of the 



