376 THE GOOSBFOOT FAMILY. IChenopodium. 



In cultivated and waste places, dispersed over Europe, central and 

 Russian Asia, and North America. In Britain it occurs rarely, and only 

 in England as a weed of cultivation. PL summer and autumn. 



9. C. Bonus-Henricus, Linn. (fig. 851). Good King Henry, AUgood. 

 Distinguished from all the preceding by its perennial stock, with a 

 thick, fleshy root, like that of a Rumex. Stems about a foot high, 

 scarcely branched. Leaves like those of Spinach, stalked, broadly tri- 

 angular, often above 3 inches long, sinuate or slightly toothed, rather 

 thick, and of a dark green ; the upper ones smaller, and nearly sessile. 

 Flowers numerous, in clustered spikes, forming a narrow terminal 

 panicle, slightly leafy at the base. Fruit completely concealed by the 

 perianth. Seeds vertical. 



On waste ground, near villages and sheepfolds, in the mountain 

 districts of Europe and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. In 

 Britain, chiefly on roadsides, near villages and dwellings, but in many 

 places introduced only, having been formerly much cultivated as a pot- 

 herb. Fl. spring and all summer. 



V. BETA. BEET. 



Inflorescence and flowers of Chenopodium, except that each flower 

 has 3 small bracts at its base, and that the ovary and fruit are im- 

 mersed in the succulent base of the perianth, which thickens and 

 hardens as it ripens, becoming angular, and often toothed or prickly. 



The species are very few, extending along the coasts of Europe, 

 western Asia, and Africa. 



1. B. maritima, Linn. (fig. 852). Wild B. The wild Beet has a 

 short, hard stock of a few years' duration, with erect or spreading 

 branched stems about 2 feet high. Lower leaves large, broad, rather 

 thick, and green, the upper ones small and narrow. Flowers green like 

 those of Chenopodium, single or clustered, in long, loose, terminal spikes, 

 often branching into a leafy panicle. The ripe perianth forms a hard, 

 angular, often prickly mass, enclosing a single horizontal seed like that 

 of a Chenopodium. 



On rocks, and in muddy sands by the seashore, in Europe, western 

 Asia, and northern Africa, extending northwards to the Baltic. Not 

 uncommon on the British coasts, south of Fife and Argyle. FL summer 

 and autumn. The white and red Beets, and the Mangel Wurzel (Root of 

 scarcity), are cultivated varieties of this species. 



VI. ATRIPLEX. ORACHE. 



Herbs or undershrubs, often covered with a grey or white scaly meal ; 

 the leaves flat and alternate, or the lower ones rarely opposite. Flowers 

 small and numerous, clustered in axillary spikes or terminal panicles as 

 in Chenopodium, but always of two kinds ; in some, which are usually 

 males only, the perianth is regular, and 5-cleft as in Chenopodium, with 

 5 stamens ; in the females the perianth consists of 2 flat segments (or 

 rather bracts, replacing the real perianth), either free or more or less 

 united at the edges, enclosing the ovary. After flowering this false 

 perianth enlarges, is often toothed at the edge, and covered with wart>- 



