74 KEY AND FLORA 
varying from rhombic-ovate to (the uppermost) nearly linear, nar- 
rowed at the base, acute, somewhat angulate-toothed, 1-4 in. long. 
Spikes terminal and in the leaf axils, often panicled. Calyx with 
keeled lobes, in fruit nearly covering the smooth seed. A common 
and troublesome weed. Naturalized from Europe. 
4. C. urbicum L. Upricgut Gooseroot. Annual, little or not at 
all mealy. Stem stout, erect, and with erect branches, 1—3 ft. high. 
Leaves halberd-shaped or triangular, acute, coarsely and sharply 
toothed, except the upper ones, the larger ones 3-6 in. long. Spikes 
in a narrow, erect panicle. Lobes of the calyx not keeled. Waste 
ground. Naturalized from Europe. 
27. AMARANTHACEA. AMARANTH FAMILY 
Mostly herbs, with nearly the characters of the Chenopodia- 
cee, but with usually 3 dry, translucent, persistent, often 
colored, bracts beneath the flower. Most of the genera are 
tropical ; our commonest species are troublesome weeds, usu- 
ally flowering in midsummer or later. 
AMARANTHUS L. 
Mostly annual herbs. Leaves alternate, simple, thin, usually 
entire, often bristle-tipped, Flowers mostly 3-bracted, small, 
green or purplish in our wild species, in axillary clusters or 
dense terminal spikes. Calyx of 5 or sometimes 3 distinct 
erect sepals. Stamens distinct, usually 5, anthers 2-celled. 
Styles or stigmas 2 or 3. Fruit small, bladdery, 1-seeded, with 
2 or 3 beaks formed by the withered styles. 
1. A. graecizans L. TumMBLEWEED. Smooth, pale green. Stem 
diffusely branched, whitish, the branches slender, ascending. Leaves 
small, varying from obovate to spatulate, obtuse or retuse, 3-1} in. 
long. Flowers greenish, in small axillary clusters, covered by stiff, 
sharp-pointed bracts. Sepals 3. In waste ground and a common 
field and garden weed. In the autumn the leaves drop and the globu- 
lar stem and branches roll freely about before the wind. 
2. A.spinosus L. Spiny AMARANTH. Stem stout, ridged, smooth, 
bushy-branched, often red, 1-4 ft. high. Leaves varying from ovate 
to lanceolate, tapering to both ends, dull green, 3-8 in. long, each 
with a pair of stiff spines in its axil. Flower clusters of two sorts, 
