592 CHENOPODIACE.E kochia 



CHENOPODIUM 



Ovary ovoid, narrowed upward into the style: stigmas 2. Utricle 

 pear-shaped or oblong the pericarp membranaceous, not adherent 

 to the inverted seed. Embryo annular, green, enclosing the 

 scanty albumem. 



K. Americana Watson Proc. Am. Acad, ix, 93. Woody and branch- 

 ing at base: stems erect, mostly simple and virgate, 6-18 inches high, 

 leafy, villous-tomentose to nearly glabrous : leaves terete, linear 3-12 lines 

 long, acutish, ascending: flowers 1-3 in the axils, mostly with abortive 

 stamens : calyx densely white-tomentose, nearly a line broad in fruit, the 

 membranous wing as wide or wider, its lobes cuneate, rounded, nerved and 

 somewhat crenulate : ovary ovate tomentose above : style elongated : peri- 

 carp nearly smooth : seed % of a line broad, Valleys and foothills, eastern 

 Oregon to Nevada and Arizona. 



3 CHENOPODIUM L. Sp 218. 



Annual or perennial herbs with alternate flat leaves and very 

 small perfect sessile, bractless flowers clustered in axillary and 

 terminal often panicled or compound spikes. Calyx 2-5-parted 

 or 2--5-lobed, more or less closely covering the fruit, its segments 

 or lobes herbaceous or somewhat fleshy, often keeled or rigid. 

 Stamens 1-5. Styles 2-4, slender. Pericarp membranaceous, 

 closely investing the lenticular or globose seed. Testa crustace- 

 ous. Embryo annular or curved around copious albumen. 



§ 1 Chenopodiastrum Moq. in DC. Prodr. xiii, 61. Annu- 

 als, usually somewhat mealy but not pubescent, or glandular nor 

 aromatic. Fruit dry. Seeds lenticular, horizontal. Embryo 

 completely annular. 



C. album L. Sp. 219. ^Lamb's Quarters.) More or less mealy 

 t hroughout: stem usually slender erect, commonly much branched usually 

 1-4 feet high : leaves rhombic-ovate or the upper ones lanceolate to linear- 

 lanceolate, 1-4 inches long, obtuse or acute, at least the lower ones sinuate- 

 dentate, the upper usually entire: flowers densely clustered in simple or com- 

 pound often panicled spikes: calyx about half a line broad in fruit, its segments 

 strongly keeled, usually completely enclosing the utricle: seed firmly attached 

 to the pericarp. Common in cultivated fields and waste places everywhere. 



C. hytoridum L. Sp. 519. Glabrous throughout, or the inflorescence 

 more or less mealy: stem rather stout erect, 2-4 feet high, simple or sparing- 

 ly branched above: leaves ovate or rhombic-ovate, long-acuminate at the 

 apex, truncate, rounded or subcordate at base, sharply dentate with 1-4 large 

 acute teeth on each side, or the upper lanceolate and entire, the lower ones 4- 

 7 inches long: flowers in large axillary and terminal panicles: calyx about a 

 line broad its segments oblong, slightly keeled incompletely covering the 

 fruit; stamens 5: seed sharp-edged, firmly attached to the pericarp. In 

 woods and thickets, Brit. Columbia to Oregon and the Atlantic States, also 

 Europe. 



C. murale L. Sp. 219. Scarcely or not at all mealy, somewhat scurfy 

 above: stems erect or decumbent, usually branched 1-3 feet high: leaves 

 rhombic-ovate bright green on both sides, acute or acuminate at the apex, 

 sharply and coarsely sinuate dentate, broadly cuneate or subtruncate at base, 

 2-4 inches long: flowers in loose axillary panicles shorter than the leaves: seg- 

 ments of the calyx not entirely enclosing the utricle: seeds sharp-edged, firmly 

 attached to the pericarp. Along the coast. Brit. Columbia to California 



