Atriplex.] LXII. CHENOPODIACEjE. 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 Chenojpodium. Embryo curved 

 round the albumen. 



A considerable genus, widely 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. Fruiting perianth ses- 

 sile 1. 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 quite free. Plant 



of 4 or 5 feet 3.-4. hortensis. 



Segments of the fruiting perianth thickish, and partially 

 united. Plant not above 3 feet, erect, or procumbent. 

 Moral leaves nearly sessile. Fruiting perianths mostly 



axillary, white and scaly 5. A. rosea. 



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, stragg- 

 ling, much branched shrub or undershrub, often shortly creeping, and 

 rooting at the base, 1 to 1J 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 0. — Kesembles A. 

 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 lines ; 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 0.— 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. 



