154 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Rumex flexuosus. (The Tortuous Dock). 



A much branched herb, 1ft. - 2ft. long, prostrate, shining. Leaves 4-in. - Sin. 

 long, linear- oblong, sometimes waved at the margins. Flowers in distinct 

 whorls. Lobes of perianth in fruit ^in. long, veined, sometimes with 1 - 4 

 spines, keeled. Keel sometimes spiny. Both islands : common. Fl. Nov.- 

 March. 



Fig. 44. Muhlenbeckia axillaris. Fruit (life size). 



Chenopodiaceae. 



THE BEET FAMILY. 



Distribution. A large family, distributed all over the world. Soda was ai> 

 one time obtained from the ashes of those species which grow in salt marshes. 

 Spinach (Spinacia) and beet (Beta) are used as table vegetables. 



Sand-dunes, sea-marshes, deserts, and old lake bottoms are 

 more or less impregnated with salts of sodium, calcium, 

 imagnesium, and potassium. Plants growing in such situations 



