CHENO PODIUM 
155 
Perennial, scarcely mealy. Rhizome stout. Stem rather stout, erect, grooved, about a third to 
half a metre high, branched below. Petioles of the ground-leaves as long as or rather longer than 
the laminae. Laminae broadly hastate, basal lobes descending, large. Inflorescence leafless except 
at the base. Flowers polygamous, mostly monoclinous, a few pistillate; late May and June. 
Perianth with 5 segments, green, margin membranous. Stamens 5. Filaments subulate. Stigmas 
usually 2 — 3, rarely 4 or 5. Seeds large, about 1*5 mm. by 17, reddish to nearly black, minutely 
punctate ; August. 
By British field-botanists, this species is often considered to be a mere relic of cultivation. It was formerly cultivated 
rather commonly, and indeed still is in Lincolnshire, where it is known as “marcury” (i.e., mercury), as a kind of spinach; 
and it is also used as a simple. However, the plant seems to be too widely distributed in England and the neighbouring 
countries on the mainland of Europe for this explanation to be considered quite satisfactory. Even in the Alps, it is a 
nitrophilous species, frequenting the “lagers” or places where the cattle lie, and growing with other nitrophilous species, 
such as Urtica dioica, Rumex alpinus, and Aconitum napellus. No doubt its nitrophilous tendencies are partly responsible 
for its normal occurrence near habitations and cow-sheds. British botanists have never realised the significance of these 
nitrophilous species, though Swiss botanists, in particular, are quite familiar with them. 
Road-sides, especially near villages and habitations and cow-sheds ; chiefly lowland but ascending 
to 360 m. in Derbyshire, northwards to Caithness-shire ; throughout England, Wales (except 
Cardiganshire), and southern and eastern Scotland (northwards to Perthshire) ; local in western and 
northern Scotland and in Ireland. 
Central and southern Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central 
Europe (rising to 2700m. in the Tyrol), Russia, southern Europe; western Asia; North America. 
Section II. CHENOPODIA STRUM 
Chenopodiastrum Moquin in DC. Prodr . xiii, pt. 2, 61 (1849); Volkens op. cit. p. 61; Rouy FI. 
France xii, 42 (1910). 
For characters, see page 154. 
Series of Chenopodiastrum 
Series i. Polysperma (see below). Laminae entire or subentire. Seeds rugose. 
Series ii. Alba (p. 157). Laminae entire or toothed. Seeds smooth. 
Series iii. Urbica (p. 159). Lammae usually more or less toothed or lobed, larger than in 
Polysperma. Seeds rugose. 
Series i. Polysperma 
Polysperma nobis; sectio I*, Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii, pt. ii, 61 (1849). 
For characters, see above. 
British species of Polysperma 
2. C. polyspermum (see below). Shoot scarcely mealy. Achene enclosed by the persistent 
perianth. 
3. C. vulvaria (p. 157). Shoot mealy, foetid. Achene projecting from the persistent perianth. 
2. CHENOPODIUM POLYSPERMUM. All-seed. Plate 156 
Atriplex sylvestre sive polyspermum Gerard Herb. 237 (1597); Chenopodium betae-folia Ray Syn. ed. 3, 
157 (1724)- 
Chenopodium polyspermum L. Sp. PI. 220 (1753)!; Smith Ft. Brit. 278 (1800)! including C. acuti- 
folium\ Syme Eng. Bot. viii, 10 (1868); Rouy FI. France xii, 47 (1910). 
leones: — Ft. Dan. t. 1153. 
Camb. Brit. FI. ii. Plate 156. (a) Flowering shoot of var. acutifolium. (b) Persistent perianths and achenes 
(enlarged) of var. obtusifolium. Jersey (E. W. H.). {c) Flowering shoot of var. obtusifolium. id) Persistent 
perianths and achenes (enlarged) of var. obtusifolium. Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Annual, rather mealy. Stem erect or decumbent, often much branched, lower branches then 
wide-spreading, 4-angled. Petioles rather short, often about a third as long as the laminae or 
rather shorter. Laminae elliptical to elliptical-acute, thin. Inflorescences axillary and terminal, about 
20 — 2 
