(i8 3 ) 



and near the brook is the goose-foot family, with several 

 species, one of which, the lamb's-quarters (Chenopodium) , 

 is native of Europe and Asia, but is found as a common 

 weed in waste places and along roadsides in this country; 

 its young shoots are sometimes used as a vegetable. Closely 

 related to this, and just south of it, is the amaranth family, 

 represented by several species of the pigweed, many of 

 them among the commonest weeds of our roadsides and 

 waste places. Forming a series to the right of this are: 

 the whitlow-wort, four-o'clock, pokeweed, carpetweed 

 and purslane families. In the whitlow-wort family are 

 gnawel, a common weed of fields and waste places, and the 

 forked chickweed. In the four-o'clock family may be 

 found the common four-o'clock of our gardens, a native 

 of tropical America, its flowers opening only on cloudy days 

 or late in the afternoon on clear days, whence its name; 

 and the umbrella-worts, from North America. In this 

 vicinity is the Madeira-vine family, to which belongs the 

 genus Basella, here represented. The pokeweed family 

 is present in the common poke or garget (Phytolacca), 

 native of the eastern part of North America, a plant of 

 medicinal value and poisonous, but its young shoots when 

 first appearing above the ground are sometimes used 

 as "greens." In the carpetweed family are the carpet- 

 weed, from which the family derives its name, a native 

 of the United States and Mexico, but a common weed 

 in this vicinity; and representatives of the south African 

 fig-marigolds (Mesembryanthemum), many of them very 

 showy; they are not hardy in this^latitude and must be 

 planted out every spring. In the purslane family, among 

 others, may be found the sunplant or common portulaca 

 of the gardens, a native of South America; the small- 

 flowered talinum, from the central United States; and 

 the common purslane or pusly, a pernicious weed in many 

 sections of the country, and often used for "greens" or as a 

 salad. 



Then comes the chickweed family, with sandworts, chick- 



