Chenopodium.] chenopodiace«. 415 



j3. Stems spreading, procumbent, almost woody ; root biennial ? Wahl. Fl. 

 Suec. i. p. 160. 



On muddy sea-shores, in salt-marshes and about the mouths of tide-rivers ; very 

 commonly. Fl. August, September. O and $ ? 



Brading harbour, and Newtown salt-marshes, abundant. Plentiful along the 

 Medina between Cowes and Newport. Profusely in a salt-m^rsh meadow at 

 Springfield, which is covered with this species exclusively, 1842. 



(i. In loose sand at Springfield, plentifully. Newtown marshes, as about New- 

 town Saltern, &c., abundantly. 



Herb very smooth and succulent, of a pale subglaucous-green, changing in 

 seed to a lurid purple or violet-red, from 6 to 18 inches high. Root whitish, 

 tapering, flexuose, with a few branching fibres, tough and composed of several 

 concentric layers of woody fibre. Stem I or more, roundish, striated, usually 

 ascending at the base and somewhat woody, afterwards erect, at other times dif- 

 fuse or prostrate, much branched, the branches alternate, erecto-patent, slender 

 and nodding at the tips. Leaves numerous, alternate, sessile, linear, very soft, 

 fleshy and succulent, ribless, flat on the upper side or slightly channelled, rounded 

 and nearly semicyliudrical below, pointing upwards and mostly a little incurved, 

 rather bluntly pointed but not mucronate, scarcely attenuated at the base, the 

 largest about an inch or an inch and a half in length. Flowers green, in little 

 axillary clusters of about 3 — 6 together (sometimes solitary), small, ses- 

 sile, the central flower with 2, the lateral with 3, minute scariose torn brads, of 

 an oblong or obovate shape and much shorter than themselves, to which they are 

 closely applied. Perianth in 5 deep, concave, gibbous segments, with a broad, 

 pale, membranous and rounded or very slightly pointed, erect border, depresso- 

 connivent in fruit, furnished, according to Bertoloni, at the base externally with 

 a thick fleshy scale or callosity, representing the foliaceous appendage to the same 

 part in Salsola, but of which in the plant before us I can perceive no trace what- 

 ever, nor is any such appendage noted by the authors of the new edition of 

 Rohling's ' Deutschland's Flora.' Stamens opposite to and a little longer than 

 the segments of the perianth ; anthers large, yellowish, of 2 distinct roundish lobes. 

 Styles 2, conical and united at the base, erect, much shorter than the stamens. 



The whole plant turns dark red, purple or violet in decaying, and black in 

 drying. 



Both this species and S.fruticosa approach very nearly in character to Sal. 

 sola, to which genus Smith has removed the latter but not the former, thus very 

 unnaturally separating two plants having the most intimate relationship. 



' Tribe III. Cbenopodejb. 



" Embryo annular." " Flowers uniform, mostly perfect. Stem 

 continuous." — Br. Fl. 



III. Chenopodium, Linn. Goosefoot. 



" Flowers usually all perfect. Perianth nearly uniform, usu- 

 ally 5- (sometimes 2 — 4) cleft, persistent and unaltered, or at 

 length fleshy, closing upon the fruit. Ovary and fruit free from 

 the perianth. Seed lenticular. {Leaves flat. Bracteas tinder 

 each flower none." — Br. Fl. 



1. C. olidum. Curt. Stinking Goosefoot. Leaves ovato-rhom- 

 boidal quite entire, spikes very short leafless, stems diffuse' or 

 prostrate. Sm. E. Fl. ii. p. 14. Br. Fl. p. 344. Lynd. Syn. p. 

 216. E. B. XV. t. 1034. Curt. Fl. Lond. fasc. 5, t. 20. C. Vul- 

 varia, L. 



