GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 285 



prickly pointed leaves, and flesh-eojored horizontal wings on the back of the 

 fruiting calyx, making a circular broad border. 



1. BOUSSINGAXi'LTIA. (Named for the traveller and agricultural 

 chemist, Boussingault.) 



B. baselloid.es, of South America : high twining plant, in cultivation her- 

 baceous, from oblong tubers resemblin^' small potatoes: smooth, with, some- 

 what lieart-sliapcd succulent leaves, and slender raceme^ of deliciously fragrant 

 small flowers in autumn. ^ 



2. BETA, BEET. (Latin name.) One species in cultivation, viz. : — 



B. vulg^is. Common Beet, from S. En. : cult, in many varieties, with 

 ovate-oblong smooth often wavy-margined leaves, sometimes purple-tinged ; 

 flower-clusters spiked ; root conical or spindle-shaped. Mangel Wuktzel or 

 ScAKCiTY-KooT is a mere variety, the root used for feeding cattle. @ 



3. SPINACIA, SPINACH. (Name from Latin for spine or tkorn; prob- 

 ably from the horns or projections on the fruiting-calyx which become rather 

 spiny in one variety. ) 



S. oler&cea, CoMMon Spinach, cult, from the Orient, as a pot-herb ; the 

 soft-fleshy leaves triangular or ovate and petioled. ® @ 



4. BLITUM, elite. (Ancient Greek and Latin name of some pot-herb 

 or of the Amaranth. ) El. summer. 



B. capit&tum, Strawbeert Elite, the flqwer-heads as the fruit matures 

 becoming bright red and juicy, like strawberries ; leaves triangfilar and halberd- 

 shaped, wavy-toothed, smooth and bright gfeen. Dry baiiks, margins of woods, 

 &c. N., sometimes in gardens. ® ® 



B. Bonus-Henrlcus, Good-King-Henrt, cult, in some old gardens, is 

 between a Elite and a Goosefoot, being slightly mealy, as in the latter, and the 

 calyx not fleshy nor fully enclosing die fruit, but the seed is vertical ; leaves 

 triangular and partly halberd-shaped ; flower-clusters crowded in an interrupted 

 terminal spike. ^ 



5. CHEITOPbDIUM, GOOSEFOOT (which the name denotes in 

 Greek), PIGWEED, &c. Weeds : fl. late summer and autumn. 



§ 1. Either smooth or leith scurf ij mealiness, insipid, never hairy nor aromatic. cJ® 



C. Alburn, White G. or Lamb's-Quarters ; the commonest species in all 

 cult, ground : pale, more or less mealy, with leaves varying from rhombic-ovate 

 to lanceolate, either angled-toothed or entire, and flower-clusters in dense pani- 

 cled spikes. Var. BosciAnum, wild in shady places, mostly S., has loose 

 branches, obscure mealiness, and smaller loosely clustered flowers. 



C. ■drbioum, in waste grounds, is dull green, scarcely. mealy, the.triangular 

 leaves coarsely and sharply many-toothed, flower-clusters in dense panicled 

 spikes, and seed with rounded margins. 



C. b^briduill, Maple-leaved G. Waste grounds, unpleasantly scented 

 like Stramonium, bright green throughout ; the widely branching stem 2° -4° 

 high ; the thin large leaves triangular and heart-shaped, sinuate and angled, the 

 angles extended into a few taper-pointed coarse teeth; racemes in loose and. 

 leafless panicles ; seed sharp-edged. 



§ 2. Not mealy or scurfy, but minutely glandular or pubescent, aromatic-scented: 

 the seed sometimes vertical, (i) (D 



C. Bbtrys, Jerusalem Oak or Feather Geranium. Gardens and 

 some roadsides : low, spreading, almost clammy-,pubescent, sweet-scented ; 

 leaves sinuatc-pinnatifid, slender-petioled ; racemes loosely corymbedT 



C. ambrosioldes, Mexican Tea, Wokmseed. Waste grounds, especi- 

 ally S. : rather stout, smoothish, strong-scented ; leaves oblong or lanceolate, 

 varying from entire to cut-pinnatitid, neai-Iy sessile ; spikes dpnse, leafy or leaf- 

 less. This, especially the more cut-leaved var. anthelm(nticum, is used as a 

 vermifuge, ancl yields the wormseed-oil. 



