THE GOOSEFOOT TRIBE. 143 



and of the drug of that name, which is one of the 

 greatest preservatives that nature has provided for the 

 delicate machinery of man. 



Many other exotic plants equally belong to this 

 tribe ; but they are not worth the introduction here. 



Very closely allied to the plants last mentioned, 

 are those which constitute the Goosefoot Tribe 

 (Plate \1^. 2.), a natural order comprehending such 

 culinary vegetables as Spinach (Spinacia oleracea). 

 Orach (Atriplex hortensis), £eet (Beta vulgaris), 

 and the like. They are plants whose flowers are 

 of an herbaceous or dull red colour, and of a succu- 

 lent texture, so that they all are, without exception, 

 unattractive species. What Nature has denied to 

 their flowers, she sometimes however gives to their 

 leaves, which are occasionally stained with the most 

 vivid tints of yellow, purple, crimson, and even rosy 

 red, as in the Chard Beet, and the Garden Orach. 

 Most, and perhaps all, are suited for cooking as spinach, 

 in consequence of the pulpy, tender, sub-mucila- 

 ginous quality of their leaves ; but, as they differ in 

 quality, Spinach itself is generally preferred for the 

 table ; none of them, however, are better than the wild 

 Sea Beet (Beta maritima), which loves to fix itself 

 on the sea-shore at the foot of chalky cliff's, often 

 within reach of the spray. 



One of the commonest species is Goosefoot (Cheno- 

 podium album), a gTey, powdery, annual weed, which 

 springs up on every heap of rubbish, and soon produces 

 at the ends of its upright branches numerous clusters 



