CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 109 
branched, and very leafy. Leaves 
oblong to lance-shaped, one to three 
inches long, smooth, wavy-toothed or 
nearly entire, especially the upper 
ones, which are pointed at both ends 
and sessile or with very short petioles. 
Flowers in dense terminal and axil- 
lary spikes, intermixed with small 
leaves; calyx green, its five lobes 
completely enclosing the small, 
black, flattened seed. (Fig. 66.) 
F Occupying 
the same range 
is a closely re- 
lated plant, 
commonly 
called Worm- 
seed (C. am- 
brosioides, var. 
anthelminticum, 
Gray),  differ- 
ing chiefly in 
being perennial 
strongly-scented 
Fie. 67.-- Wormseed Means of control 
(Chenopodium ambro- 
stoides var. anthelminti- 
cum). X#%. early bloom. 
Fie. 66.— Mexican Tea (Cheno- 
podium ambrosioides). xX}. 
in latitudes where the ground does not 
freeze in winter; also, it is a larger, more 
plant, with more coarsely 
toothed leaves, two to five inches lofig and 
its flowering spikes often lacking the small, 
entire, sessile Jeaves that are intermingled 
with the flowers of Mexican Tea. Both 
plants are used in medicine as anthelmintics, 
and the seeds, from which the essential oil is 
usually distilled, are salable in the drug market 
for six to eight cents a pound. (Fig. 67.) 
Close cutting or hand-pulling while in 
