640 CLXXXII. BASELLE^, 



ChenopodetE approacli Sasellece, Amarantacets, Phytolaccece, and Tetragomem in various characters, 

 the most obvious of which is the curved embryo surrounding a more or less abundant farinaceous albumen. 

 Most Chenopodeee inhabit the shores of oceans and salt lakes, and deserts formerly covered by the sea ; 

 they are principally met with in the Mediteranean region and Asiatic Russia. Other species seem to 

 prefer the neighbourhood of man, being abundant amongst ruins, along roads and in cultivated places 

 ■where the soil is impregnated with agotized matters ; presenting numerous varieties. They are generally 

 rare in the tropics, where they are replaced by Amarantacets, and rarer still in the southern hemisphere ; 

 Australia, however, possesses several species remarkable for the singularity of their structure, Some 

 follow the footsteps of man {Chenopodium hyhridnm, Muspermum, &c.). 



Amongst Chenopodeee some species contain mucilage, starch, or sugar, which renders them edible ; 

 others "ai-e medicinal ; some furnish carbonate of soda by burning. Spinach (Spinacia aleracea), a potherb 

 unknown to the ancients, was introduced into Spain by the Arabs, and thence spread over Europe ; it is 

 also cultivated in India. The leaves of the Orach {Atriplex hortensis], commonly called Bonne Dame, are 

 edible and refreshing ; the seeds possess emetic and purgative properties. Chenopodiurfi album, viride, 

 fidfolium, and Blitum mbrum and Bonus-Hemricus are also used as Spinach. Beet, the origin of 

 which is uncertain, has been cultivated for ages in kitchen gardens and fields. The leaves of the 

 White Beet or Mangold Wurz6l (Beta Cyeld) are edible when young, and used in soup for their laxative 

 qualities. Beet-i'oot (Beta Bapa) has fleshy yellow red or white roots containing an abundance of 

 crystallizable sugar, similar to that of sugar-cane, which is the object of a large European commerce. 

 This plant is also cultivated as forage for cattle [and is also largely eaten]. 



The starchy seeds of Chenopodium can in times of scarcity be mixed with those of cereals. C 

 Quinoa is an annual, the seeds of which, made into broth, serve as food to the Peruvians. Other Cheno- 

 podiece possess aromatic properties which act powerfully on the nervous system ; C. Botrys is a herb 

 growing in middle and southern Europe, the scent of which is pleasant ; it is used ag a bechic. Amhrina 

 ambrosioides, Mexican Tea, is now cultivated in all gardens ; its odour is sweet and penetrating, and an 

 infusion of it is a useful stomachic. ■ The seeds of Clienopodium anthelmintHicum, a South American plant, 

 are an excellent vermifuge. Camphorosma monspeliaca smells strongly of camphor ; a tea is prepared from it 

 which is praised as a diuretic, cephalic, and antispasmodic. C.fostidum is an indigenous plant with branching 

 and spreading stems, common in uncultivated places on calcareous soil ; all parts of it exhale a smell of 

 rotten fish, due to the carbonate of ammonia which it contains. It is used in injections and fomentations, 

 as an antispasmodic, emmenagogue and antihysteric. 



Salsola, Suceda, and Salicornia grow abundantly on seashores and in salt soil ; they contain a large 

 quantity of alkaline salts, which are obtained by incineration, and which are converted by means of char- 

 coal and lime into carbonate of soda. The young shoots of Salicornia, gathered on the sea-shore, are 

 eaten as Purslane by the inhabitants of the maritime provinces of Holland [and are pickled as Samphire in 

 parts of England]. 



CLXXXII. BASELLEJ]:, Ad. Brongniart. 



(Basellaob^, Moquin-Tandon. — Ateiplicum genera, Jussieu.) 



Herbaceous rarely suffruticose glabrous plaistts. Stems often climbing or 

 twining, sub-angular, sparingly leafy. Leaves alternate, or very rarely opposite, 

 petioled, simple, entire or sub-sinuate, fleshy, or rarely sub- coriaceous, exstipulate. 

 Flowers 5 , regular, small, solitary, or in axillary spikes furnished with often 

 winged or keeled bracts. Caltx often coloured, persistent, 5-fid, -partite or 

 -phyllous, Eestivation imbricate. Corolla 0. Stamens perigynous, opposite to the 

 sepals ; filaments subulate, dilated at the base ; anthers 2-celled, introrse, dorsifixed, 

 glebiscence longitudinal. Ovary free, 1-celled ; style terminal, simple ; stigmas 3, 

 sub-divaricate, sometimes solitary, 3-lobed {Tandon'ia)^ rarely simple {Ullucus) ; ovule 



