700 



THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 



9. Perennial Goosefoot. Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus, 



Linn. (Fig. 813.) 



(Eng. Bot.'t. 1033. Good King Henry.) 



Distinguished from all the preceding 

 by its perennial stock, with a thick, 

 fleshy root, like that of a Doclc. Stems 

 about a foot high, scarcely branched. 

 Leaves like those of Spinage, stalked, 

 broadly triangular, 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. Seeds vertical, not com- 

 pletely concealed by the perianth. 



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, 

 in England, Ireland, and southern Scot- 

 land, but in many places introduced only, having been formerly much 

 cultivated as a potherb. Fl. spring and all summer. 



Fig. 843. 



V. BEET. BETA. 



Inflorescence and flowers of Goosefoot, except that each flower has 3 

 small bracts at its base, and that the ovary and seed are immersed 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. Common Beet. Beta maritima, Linn. (Fig. 844.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 285.) 



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 a Goosefoot, single or clustered, in long, 



