GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 



271 



1. GHEXOPO'DIUM, X. Goosefoot. 



[Gr. Chen, a goose, and Pons, podos, a foot ; in allusion to the form of the leaves.] 



Flowers perfect. Calyx S-cleft, rarely 2 - 4-cleft or parted, witli the 

 lobes sometimes keeled, but not appendaged nor becoming succulent, 

 more or less enveloping the depressed fruit. Stamens mostly 5 ; filament 

 filiform. Styles 2, rarely 3. Seed horizontal (sometimes vertical in Xo. 

 3.). lenticular ; embryo partially or fully coiled round the mealy albumen. 

 Weeds, mostly annuals, usually vrith a white mealiness or glandular. 

 Flowers sessile in small clusters collected in spiked panicles, blooming 

 throughout the summer. 



* Leaves strongly and sharply-toothed (mealiness obscure or none), on slen- 



der petioles ; calyx-lches slightly keeled. 



1. C. hy'bridum. L. Leaves green on both sides, cordate-ovate, acumi- 

 nate, angularly and remotely dentate ; racemes loosely panictilate, leafless. 

 Hybrid Chexopodioi. Maple-leaved Goosefoot. 



stem. 2-4 feet high, rather slender, angular and striate, much branched. Leaves 2-4 

 inches long, thin, bright green ; petioles 1-2 inches in length. Flowers paniculate, — the 

 sub-divisions cymose ; terminal panicle long and loose, with divaricate branches. The 

 smooth calyx-lobes keeled. Seed sharp-edged, the thin pericarp adhering closeh^ to it. 



About dwellings and along streams : common. Native of Europe. June - August. 



Obs. A common weed with a heavy odor, like that of Stramonium. 



* * Leaves tootlied, repand-angled, or sometimes 

 nearly entire, more or less white-mealy us 

 well as the fiowers ; cal yx-lobes distinctl y 

 keeled. 



2. C. aVbuWi, L. Leaves rhomboid-ovate, 

 erose-dentate, entire and tapering towards 

 the base, — the upper ones oblong-lanceolate, 

 entire ; racemes erect, branched, somewhat 

 leafy. 



"White Chenopodium. Lamb's Quarters. 

 Goosefoot. 



Fr. Anserine blanche. Germ. Der Gaense- 



fuss. 2.1^ 



Root annual. Stem 2>-b or 6 feet high, rather stout, 

 angular, often striped with yellow and green, some- 

 times purplish, branched. ^Leaves 1-3 inches long, 

 covered with very minute fiat or cup-like scales (espe- 

 cially on the unfl^^r surface), which give them a glau- 17 5 

 cous or mealv aypearance ; pe?ioZes 1-2 or 3 inches 

 long. Flowers in pulverulent clusters. Calyx depressed, 



5-angled by the prominent keels of the incurved segments, greenish and glaucous. 

 ,Se*i dark purple or nearly black, lenticular, smooth and shining. 



Fig 1V3. .Ui enlarged flower of the Common Goosefoot (Chenopodiurn album.) 174. The 

 same divided. 175. A section through the seed, sh'' wing the coiled embryo oatside the 

 »lbuiEei.\ 



