368 



'GOOD KING HENRY' 



(CHENOPODWM BONUS-HENRICUS L.J. 



WALTER JOHNSON, 

 Batle?-sea. 



One of my earliest recollections is that of a g-arden in North- 

 East Lincolnshire, where, in addition to the old-fashioned 

 vegetables, there grew a luxuriant bed of what was locally 

 termed ' Marquery ' (pr. ??iark-wer}'), or 'Markery. ' This 

 vegetable, which in after years I was to know under the high- 

 sounding- names of Mercury Goosefoot, or Good King Henry, 

 and botanically as in the above title, was cut in late spring and 

 earlv summer, and formed a delicious edible, particularly when 

 accompanied by boiled ham or bacon. 



A short description of Marquery will be sufficient, since any 

 good Flora will supply omissions. Alone of the ten British 

 species of the genus Chenopodium, Marquery is a perennial. 

 It is a dull, dark-green, succulent plant, with a thick, fleshy 

 rootstock, stout, channelled stem, and triangular-hastate leaves 

 with slightly sinuate margins. The stem and the undersides of 

 the leaves are powdered with a whitish meal, which makes the 

 plant soapy to the touch. The clustered flower-spike, which 

 appears from May to August, is greenish, inclining- to red, and 

 quite unattractive to the mere collector. After consulting the 

 various authorities on botany, one gets an impression that the 

 plant is fairly common, or perhaps one should say, common. 



Concerning the names of our plant, much may be written — 

 it is necessary, however, to use considerable judgment. The 

 name of the genus, Chenopodium, is obviously taken from the 

 Greek X']^'-> goose, and ttoi-?, ttoS-, a foot, an origin reflected in the 

 popular name — goosefoot, applied to all the included species. 

 This principle of nomenclature is well illustrated in such names 

 as Coltsfoot, Crowfoot, Bearsfoot, Cocksfoot, and Birdsfoot tre- 

 foil ; the last two names, however, have reference to the fruit, not 

 the leaf of the plant. Our particular species, Marquery, accord- 

 ing to Loudon, has the corresponding name in Italian, Anserino, 

 in Dutch, Gansevoet, and in German, Gansefuss, another 

 designation being Meldenartige. The French name, g'iven by 

 Syme and Sowerby, is Anserine bon Henri, introducing an 

 eponyni which will be discussed presently. Now, although the 

 leaves of the Chenopodiums are very variable in form, those 

 of Mercury Goosefoot and one or two other species justif}*, by 



Naturalist, 



