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and near the brook is the goose-foot family, with several 
species, one of which, the lamb’s-quarters (Chenopodium), 
is native of Europe and Asia, but is found as a common 
weed in waste places and along roadsides in this country; 
its young shoots are sometimes used as a vegetable. Closely 
related to this, and just south of it, is the amaranth family, 
represented by several species of the pigweed, many of 
them among the commonest weeds of our roadsides and 
waste places. Forming a series to the right of this are: 
the whitlow-wort, four-o’clock, pokeweed, carpetweed 
and purslane families. In the whitlow-wort family are 
gnawel, a common weed of fields and waste places, and the 
forked chickweed. In the four-o’clock family may be 
found the common four-o’clock of our gardens, a native 
of tropical America, its flowers opening only on cloudy days 
or late in the Secon on clear days, whence its name; 
and the umbrella-worts, from North America. In this 
vicinity is the Madeira-vine family, to which belongs the 
genus Basella, here represented. The pokeweed family 
is present in the common poke or garget (Phytolacca), 
native of the eastern part of North America, a plant of 
medicinal value and poisonous, but its young shoots when 
ee appearing above the ground are sometimes used 
‘greens.” In the carpetweed family are the carpet- 
er from which the family derives its name, a native 
of the United States and Mexico, but a common weed 
in this vicinity; and representatives of the south African 
fig-marigolds (Mesembryanthemum), many of them very 
showy; they are not hardy in this latitude and must be 
planted out every spring. In the purslane family, among 
others, may be found the sunplant or common portulaca 
of the gardens, a native of South America; the small- 
flowered talinum, from the central United States; and 
the common purslane or pusly, a pernicious weed in many 
sections of the country, and often used for “‘greens” or as a 
salad. 
Then comes the chickweed family, with sandworts, chick- 
