208 
Europe, 28 of New Holland, and 9 of Africa and its Islands. See Fon Martius 
Monogr. 
Properties. Many of the species are used as potherbs, on account of 
the wholesome mucilaginous quahties of the leaves. Amaranthus obtusifolius 
is said to be diuretic. Several are objects of interest with gardeners for the 
beauty of their colouring and the durability of their blossoms. Gomphrena 
ofiicinahs and macrocephala have a prodigious reputation in Brazil, where they 
are called Para todo, Perpetua, and Raiz do Padre Salerma ; as the first of 
these names imports, they are esteemed useful in all kinds of diseases, espe- 
cially in cases of intermittent fevers, colics, and diarrhoea, and against the bite 
of serpents. Plantes Usuelles, nos. 31. and 32. 
Digera, Forsk. 
Deeringia, R. Br. 
Charpentiera, Gaud. 
Chamissoa, H. B. K. 
Allmannia, R.Br. 
Amarantus, L. 
Aerva, Forsk. 
Berzelia, Mart. 
? Polychroa, Lour. 
Celosia, L. 
Cladostachys, Don. 
Lestibudesia, Pet. Th. 
Hoplotheca, Nutt. 
Gomphrena, L. 
Hebanthe, Mart. 
Philoxerus, R. Br. 
Rosea, Mart. 
Iresine, Willd. 
Trommsdorffia, Mart. 
Serturnera, Mart. 
Pfaffia, Mart. 
Mogiphanes, Mart. 
Brandesia, Mart. 
Bucholzia, Mart. 
Alternanthera, Forsk. 
Trichinium, R. Br. 
Psilotrichum, Bl. 
Cyathula, Lour. 
Tryphera, Bl. 
Saltia, R. Br. 
Ptilotus, R. Br. 
Nyssanthes, R.Br. 
Centrostachys, Wall. 
Achyranthes, L. 
Desmochaeta, DC. 
Pupalia, Mart. 
Microtea, Sw. 
Ancistrocarpus, 
H. B. K. 
Mohlana, Mart. 
Leiospermum, Wall. 
Polyscalis, Wall. 
Blepharolepis, 
N. ab E. (28) 
Order CLVL CHENOPODIACE^. The Goosefoot Tribe. 
Atriplices, Juss. Gen. 83. (1'789). — Chenopode^, Vent. Tail. 2. 253. (1799); R. Brown 
Prodr. 405. (1810) ; C. A. Meyer in Led. FI. Alt. 1. 370. (1829) ; Lindlefs Sy- 
nopsis, 213. (1829) ; Moquin Tandon in Ann. Sc. Nov.Ser. 1. 203. (1834). — Cyno- 
CRAMBE^, Th. N. ab E. Gen. pi. Europ. (1835). 
Essential Character. — Calyx deeply divided, sometimes tubular at the base, per- 
sistent, with an imbricated aestivation. Stamens inserted into the base of the calyx, oppo- 
site its segments, and equal to them in number, or fewer. Ovary single, superior, or occa- 
sionally adhering to the tube of the calyx, with a single ovule attached to the base of the 
cavity ; style in 2 or 4 divisions, rarely simple ; stigmas undivided. Fruit membranous, 
not valvular, sometimes baccate. Embryo curved round farinaceous albumen, or spiral, or 
doubled together without albumen ; radicle next the hilum ; plumule inconspicuous. — 
Herbaceous plants or under -shrubs. Leaves alternate without stipules, occasiondly oppo- 
site. Flowers small, sometimes polygamous. 
Affinities. The difficulty of distinguishing these from Amarantacese has 
been discussed under the latter order. They are distinguished from Phyto- 
laccacese, independently of the simplicity of the structure of their ovary by 
their stamens never exceeding the number of the segments of the calyx, to 
which they are opposite : in Phytolaccaceae, if they are not more numerous 
than the segments of the calyx, they are alternate with them. Theodor Nees 
von Esenbeck separates Cynocrambese on account of the singular structure of 
their calyx and style, and, I presume, their having stipules. 
Geography. Weeds inhabiting waste places in all parts of the world, 
but, unlike Amarantaceje, abounding least within the tropics, and most in ex- 
tra-tropical regions. They are exceedingly common in all the northern parts 
of Europe and Asia. 
Properties. Some of these are used as potherbs, as Basella, Spinage, 
Garden Orach (Atriplex hortensis), and Chard Beet ; the roots of others form 
valuable articles of food, as Beet and Mangel Wurzel, Many of them possess 
