THE GOOSE-FOOT FAMILY 
(io) Many-spiked Goose-foot. (Chenopodium botryddes.) — Flower-clusters leafless; leaves 
triangular, slightly toothed and fleshy. 
(n) Oak-leaved Goose-foot. (Chenopodium glaucum.) — Leaves oblong or egg-shaped, wavy 
and toothed. 
(12) *Good King Henry. (Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus.) — -Leaves broadly triangular, 
usually entire, dark green ; root thick and fleshy. 
1. Many-seeded Goose-foot. (Chenopodium polysper'mum. Linn.)— As just 
described. The flowers are in small clusters forming short slender branched spikes (panicles) 
in the axils of the alternate leaves, with the perianth 5-lobed, thin, green, and not covering the dark 
shining fruit; the stem is 4-18 inches high, erect or decumbent, and much branched, and 
the leaves are shortly stalked, egg-shaped (ovate) or oval, entire or with one tooth on each side 
near the base. The whole plant is green or tinged with red and is destitute of white meal. 
Rather rare. In damp waste places and rich cultivated ground ; chiefly in the south of England 
and in the Channel Isles. August — October. Annual. 
2. Stinking- Goose-foot. (Chenopddium Vulv&ria. Linn.)— A similar plant to the 
last but with blunter flower-spikes ; the perianth 5-lobed and enveloping the fruit ; and the leaves 
broader and more fleshy. The whole plant, especially when young, is covered with a greasy white 
mealy powder which has an extremely unpleasant fishy smell. 
Rather rare. Under walls by waysides and in waste places near houses ; in England, Scotland, 
and Ireland. August — September. Annual. 
3. White Goose-foot, Fat Hen. (Chenopodium dlbum. Linn.) — The commonest 
species in the British Isles. The flowers are in dense, sometimes interrupted, branched spikes 
(panicles) terminating the stem and in the axils of the leaves ; the fruit is entirely covered with the 
perianth, which is 5-lobed. [As described in the genus Goose-foot (Chenopodium).] The stem 
is 1-3 feet high, erect, branched, mealy; and the leaves are egg-shaped (ovate) or somewhat 
4-sided (rhomboidal), stalked, irregularly toothed, and wavy (sinuate), the upper ones narrow and 
entire. The whole plant, particularly the flowers and under side of the leaves, is covered with 
a thick white mealy powder, giving the plant a whitish aspect. [. Plate 40. 
Very common. In cultivated ground, waysides, and waste places ; in England, Scotland, and 
Ireland. July — September. Annual. 
4. * Guelder-rose-leaved Goose-foot. (Chenopodium opulifdlium. Schrad.)— A 
species, which is not native but is occasionally found in waste places, with broadly 4-sided leaves, 
often broader than long, with the angles rounded, coarsely and unevenly toothed, and on long stalks. 
Not native. In waste places. August — September. Annual. 
5. Fig-leaved Goose-foot. (Chenopodium serotlnum. Linn.) — A similar species 
to the White Goose-foot (Chenopodium album) with the flowers in erect, nearly leafless, branched 
clusters (cymose racemes) in the axils of the leaves, the perianth 5-lobed and covering the fruit, 
and the leaves 3-lobed, the basal lobes ascending and the terminal long lobe toothed. ( Chenopodium 
ficifolium. Stn.) 
Rare. In cultivated and waste ground ; in various counties in England, and reported from Ireland. 
August — September. Annual. 
6. Nettle-leaved Goose-foot. (Chenopddium murale. Linn.)— A species with 
branched spikes (cymes) terminating the stem, but chiefly in the axils of the leaves ; the slightly 
mealy perianth is 5-lobed, nearly covering the fruit. [As described in the genus Goose-foot (Cheno- 
podium).] The stem about 1 foot high, often divided from the base into several equal decumbent 
