Zl 
Atriplex.] LXII. CHENOPODIACE®. 377 
like excrescences. Seed usually vertical. In some species there are 
also a few regular female real perianths, which ripen without enlarging, 
and contain a horizontal seed, as in Chenopodium. Embryo curved 
round the albumen. 
A considerable genus, ‘ee spread over the maritime or saline 
districts of the globe, scarcely any species besides the common one 
being ever found inland, or away from the saline influence. 
Segments of the fruiting perianth united nearly to the top. 
Leaves all entire, and mealy-white, 
Perennial, or shrubby at the base. ale) Mcinet ses- 
sile . . L. A. portulacoides. 
Annual. Fruiting perianth distinctly stalked , 2. A. pedunculata. 
Segments of the fruiting perianth not united above the middle, 
Annuals. Leaves either toothed or hastate, or, if entire, 
narrow and green. 
Segments of the fruiting perianth thin, and quitefree. Plant 
of 4 or 5 feet . ; 3. A. hortensis. 
Segments of the fruiting ‘perianth thickish, and partially 
united. Plant not above 3 feet, erect, or procumbent. 
Floral leaves nearly sessile. Fruiting perianths mostly 
axillary, white and scaly . 5. A. rose. 
Leaves almost all stalked. Fruiting perianths mostly mixed 
with the male flowers, green, or slightly mealy . . 4. A. patula. 
The shrubby A. Halimus, from the shores of the Mediterranean, is 
often cultivated in gardens, especially near the seacoast. 
1. A. portulacoides, Linn. (fig. 853). Sea Purslane.—A low, strage- 
ling, much branched shrub or undershrub, often shortly creeping, and 
rooting at the base, 1 to 14 feet high, covered with a grey scaliness 
closer than in other species. Leaves obovate or oblong, tapering at 
the base, or the upper ones linear, seldom above an inch long, and 
always entire. Flowers in short, interrupted spikes, forming a terminal 
panicle. Fruiting perianth small and thick, triangular or nearly 
orbicular ; the segments united very nearly to the top, where they are 
more or less toothed. 
On the seacoasts of Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa, 
extending northwards to the Baltic. Common on maritime cliffs and 
marshes from Ayr and Northumberland southwards; very rare in 
Ireland. Fl. summer. 
2. A. pedunculata, Linn. (fig. 854). Stalked O.—Resembles 4. 
portulacoides in its entire, thickish leaves, scaly-white on both sides, 
but is an annual only, with spreading branches, seldom a foot high ; 
the leaves usually broader, the lower ones ovate or obovate. Fruiting 
perianth always borne on a pedicel of 2 or 3 lnes; the segments 
wedge-shaped, united at the top, where the two angles often project 
into little recurved points. 
In the saline districts of central and south Russian Asia, on the shores 
of the Black Sea, the Baltic, and the North Sea, as far west as Belgium, 
but apparently absent from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coasts. 
In Britain, only on the eastern shores of England. Fl. summer and 
autumn. 
3. A. hortensis, Linn. (fig. 855). Garden O.—An erect, stout annual, 
attaining 4 or 5 feet in height. Leaves broadly triangular, cordate or 
hastate, or the upper ones narrow, green or slightly white and mealy 
underneath. Flowers very numerous and crowded, in a long, terminal, 
