THE TASMANIAN FLORA. ' 15& 



2. CHENOPODIUM. 

 Flowers bisexual, except in rai'e instances. Perianth herbaceous, deeply 

 5-lobed, rarely fewer. Fruiting-perianth clasping the fruit, but not much 

 enlarged. Stamens 5 or fewer. Ovary ovoid to globular. Styles 2 or rarely 3. 

 Fruit dry, enclosed in the perianth, ovoid with an erect seed, or depressed- 

 globular with a horizontal seed. 



, The genus is very widely spread in northern temperate climates, and many 

 of the commoner forms have heen carried with cultivation to all parts of the 

 world. 



Erect. Usually more or less pale Flowers numerous, 



in large or small dense clusters ... ... ... 1. V. album. 



Usually spreading, sub-erect. Dark green. Flowers 



numerous, in fairly loose clusters ... ... ... 2. C. murale. 



Usually prostrate. Leaves white beneath. Flowers 

 few, in axillary clusters 3. C.qlaucum. 



1. C. ALBUM, Linn. An erect annual, 1-2 feet high, the young parts, 

 foliage, and inflorescence mox-e or less covered with scaly tomentum. Leaves 

 usually pale, especially the under surface, but sometimes quite green, stalked, 

 rhomboidal to lanceolate, all except the small floral ones irregularly and 

 coarsely toothed on the margin, mostly 1 or 2 inches long. Flowers 

 clustered, in short dense or elongated and interrupted spikes in the upper 

 axils, but mostly terminal.. Perianth about 1 line diameter, the lobes 

 usually with a prominent keel. Fruit completely enclosed in the perianth. 

 Seeds horizontally flattened. 



Introduced. Very common. Fl. all spring and summer. 



2. C. MUEALE, lAnn. A coarse, much-branched annual, spreading, 

 sub-erect to decumbent, the branches grooved. Foliage dark green, and 

 very little tomentum on any part. Leaves similar to the last, only nearly 

 or quite glabrous, and usually rather succulent. Flowers numerous, in 

 rather dense much-branched panicles, along the branches principally, but 

 also terminal. Flowers and fruit similar to the last, only the perianth- 

 lobes often less keeled. 



Introduced. A common weed about towns. Fl. spring and early summer. 



3. C. GLAUCUM, var. littorak: A small, much-branched, spreading annual, 

 procumbent or ascending. Leaves rhomboidal to narrow-obovate, margin with 

 few obtuse teeth to entire, narrowed into a stalk, green above, white with scaly 

 tomentum beneath (these scales, like in most of the genus, consist, when fresh 

 of spherical, nearly free, cells), ^-1 inch long. Flowers small, in small axillary 

 and terminal heads. Perianth under \ line diameter ; lobes 4 or sometimes 3, 

 smooth, very slightly keeled. Stamens usually 1, rarely 2. Fruit much 

 exceeding the perianth, nearly always flattened. Seed usually horizontally 

 flattened, rarely erect. 



Very common on muddy coasts and saline marshes ; probably indigenous. 

 Pound along the coast almost throughout Australia. Fl. Nov.-Deo. 



The type approaches C. album much more closely than this variety in 

 general appearance, and has more regalarly toothed leaves, usually 5 

 stamens ; the fruit is enclosed in the perianth, and .the seed in most 

 fruits is erect. 



3. ATRIPLEX. 



Flowers unisexual, on the same or different plants. Staminate flowers, with a 

 deeply 5-lobed perianth. Stamens 5 or fewer. Pistillate flower with a 2-lobed 

 perianth, which enlarges considerably round the fruit, forming a flat variously- 

 shaped protection. Fruit dry, not enlarging much, and buried in the perianth, 



