CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 107 
Seed-time: Late August to November. 
Range: Manitoba to the Northwest Territory, through the Middle 
West to Arizona. 
Habitat: Plains; sandy soil; fields, waste places. 
A low and broadly branching plant, six to twenty inches in 
height, the stem and branches somewhat striped and angular, with 
reddish joints, often webby-haired when young but soon becoming 
smooth. Leaves one to three inches long, lance-shaped, with wavy 
and irregular but sharp teeth, narrowing at base to short, slim 
petioles; when young they are pale green, but they usually turn 
dark purple as the plant matures. Flowers in loosely spreading, 
interrupted panicles, very small, sessile, and scattered unevenly on 
the spikes; calyx urn-shaped, with five pointed lobes, keeled and 
curved inward, around the base of which develops a thin, mem- 
branous, horizontal wing, or border; stamens five; styles three 
or occasionally two. Seed flattened and horizontal, crusta- 
ceous. (Fig. 64.) 
As the plants mature the empurpled leaves fall away, the spread- 
ing branches harden and bend their tips inward, the brittle stems 
part from the roots close to the ground, and after that the plants 
are tumbleweeds, at the sport of varying winds, seeding the soil 
over which they roll. 
Means of control 
Destroy while young by hoe-cutting or hand-pulling. Maturing 
plants should be cut and burned. Stragglers of roadsides and waste 
land should receive attention, for a few tumblers from such sources 
may seed a wide area. 
FIREBALL 
Kodchia Scoparia, Schrad. 
Other English name: Mexican Fireweed. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: September to November. : ‘ 
Range: Locally in most of the states; most common in the Middle 
West. 
Habitat: Fields, waste places. 
