376 THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 
In cultivated and waste places, dispersed over Europe, central and 
Russian Asia, and North America. In Britain it occurs rarely, and only 
in England as a weed of cultivation. Fl. summer and autumn. 
9. ©. Bonus-Henricus, Linn. (fig. 851). Good King Henry, Allgood. 
—Distinguished from all the preceding by its perennial stock, with a 
thick, fleshy root, like that of a Rumex. Stems about a foot high, 
scarcely branched. Leaves like those of Spinach, stalked, broadly tri- 
angular, often above 3 inches long, sinuate or slightly toothed, rather 
thick, and of a dark green; the upper ones smaller, and nearly sessile. 
Flowers numerous, in clustered spikes, forming a narrow terminal 
panicle, slightly leafy at the base. Fruit completely concealed by the 
perianth. Seeds vertical. 
On waste ground, near villages and sheepfolds, in the mountain 
districts of Europe and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. In 
Britain, chiefly on roadsides, near villages and dwellings, but in many 
places introduced only, having been formerly much cultivated as a pot- 
herb. Fl. spring and all summer. 
V. BETA. BERET. 
Inflorescence and flowers of Chenopodium, except that each flower 
has 3 small bracts at its base, and that the ovary and fruit are im- 
mersed in the succulent base of the perianth, which thickens and 
hardens as it ripens, becoming angular, and often toothed or prickly. 
The species are very few, extending along the coasts of Europe, 
western Asia, and Africa. 
1. B. maritima, Linn. (fig. 852). Wild B.—The wild Beet has a 
short, hard stock of a few years’ duration, with erect or spreading 
branched stems about 2 feet high. Lower leaves large, broad, rather 
thick, and green, the upper ones small and narrow. Flowers green like 
those of Chenopodium, single or clustered, in long, loose, terminal spikes, 
often branching into a leafy panicle. The ripe perianth forms a hard, 
angular, often prickly mass, enclosing a single horizontal seed like that 
of a Chenopodium. 
On rocks, and in muddy sands by the seashore, in Europe, western 
Asia, and northern Africa, extending northwards to the Baltic. Not 
uncommon on the British coasts, south of Fife and Argyle. 1. summer 
and autumn. The white and red Beets, and the Mangel Wurzel (Root of 
scarcity), are cultivated varieties of this species. 
VI. ATRIPLEX. ORACHE. : 
Herbs or undershrubs, often covered with a grey or white scaly meal ; 
the leaves flat and alternate, or the lower ones rarely opposite. Flowers 
small and numerous, clustered in axillary spikes or terminal panicles as 
in Chenopodium, but always of two kinds; in some, which are usually 
males only, the perianth is regular, and 5-cleft as in Chenopodium, with 
5 stamens; in the females the perianth consists of 2 flat segments (or — 
rather bracts, replacing the real perianth), either free or more or less 
united at the edges, enclosing the ovary. After flowering this false 
perianth enlarges, is often toothed at the edge, and covered with wart- 
