THE SPINACH FAMILY. 



235 



Above 500 species are recorded as belonging to this wide- 

 spread weedy family, chiefly found throughout the temperate 

 regions of the Northern Hemisphere, some growing in salt 

 marshes and on sandy shores. The whole are wholesome. 



Spinach {Spinacia oleracea). The native country of the 

 garden spinach is not well ascertained, but is supposed to be 

 Western Asia ; it has been known in this country for at least 

 three hundred years. There are two kinds, one with smooth 

 and the other with prickly seeds. Both are cultivated and 

 used as a vegetable. 



English Mercury {Chenopodium Bonus Henncus), and other 

 species of the genus, are sometimes used in this country as 

 spinach. 



Australian Spinach (Chenopodium auricomum). A native 

 of the interior of Australia. It is allied to C. hyhridum, a 

 weedy plant of this country. It has lately come into use 

 as a substitute for spinach. 



Quinoa [Chenopodium Quinoa). An annual plant growing 

 to the height of from 4 to 6 feet, producing dense erect com- 

 pound panicles of flowers. It is a native of Peru, and is 

 much cultivated in Chili and other parts of Western America 

 for its seeds, which form a great article of food, and are con- 

 sidered by the miners and others employed in laborious work 

 as very strengthening. Before the conquest of Peru by the 

 Spaniards, it was the principal meal food of the Peruvians. 

 In this country it is cultivated for feeding fowls, and its 

 leaves are used as a vegetable. In the United States an oil 

 is obtained from the seeds of C. anthelminticum. 



Mountain Spinach, or Garden Orache (A triplex hortensis) 

 A native of Eastern Europe. It is a hardy annual plant, 

 growing 2 to 3 feet high, having large hastate leaves, varying 

 from light green to dark red, which are sometimes used as 

 spinach. They seed freely, the red leaved kind becoming a 

 weed in some gardens. 



Orache or Sea Purslane (Atrij^lex Halimus). A low shrub 

 with succulent leaves, native of the South of Europe and 

 Western Asia, growing in desert places. It is supposed to 



