GOOSEFOOT FAMILY 
49 
Herbage glandular-pubescent and aromatic, but not mealy; flower clusters 
spicate or paniculate. 
Leaves slender-petioled; achene imperfectly enclosed by calyx; spikes 
cymose-diverging, leafless .3. C. botrys. 
Leaves slightly petioled; achene perfectly enclosed by calyx. 
4. C. ambrosioides. 
Perennial; calyx merely toothed or cleft, more distinctly synsepalous; achene 
exserted; spike terminal, leafless or leafy only below....5. C. califoricum. 
1. C. album L. White Goosefoot. Pigweed. Stems 5.8 to 11.5 dm. 
high; leaves rhombic-ovate, 2.4 to 4.8 cm. long; flowers clustered in close 
spikes; calyx in fruit about 1.5 mm. wide.—Common European weed in 
old fields. Also known as Lambs Quarters, the herbage making excel¬ 
lent boiled greens when taken young. Var. viride. Moq. Leaves bright 
green on both sides, or only slightly mealy beneath; inflorescence less 
dense.—Not so common. 
2. C. murale L. Sowbane. Nettle-leaf Goosefoot. Stout and suc¬ 
culent, the loose branches 2 to 3.6 dm. long : leaves rhombic-ovate, 2.4 to 
4.2 cm. long; flowers in dense axillary or terminal spicate panicles; pan¬ 
icles leafless or nearly so.—Nat. from Eur.; a common weed in waste 
places, winter flowering. 
3. C. botrys L. Jerusalem Oak. Erect, often widely branching, 1.4 
to 5.8 dm. high; leaves ovate to oblong, 1.2 to 3.6 cm. long.—Waste places 
near dwellings and in flood stream beds; nat. from Eur. 
4. C. ambrosioides L. Mexican Tea. Erect, 5.8 to 10 dm. high ; leaves 
oblong or lanceolate, 4.8 to 12 cm. long; flowers in axillary clusters, form¬ 
ing a dense leafy spike; styles 3, sometimes 4.—Abundant along interior 
streams and near salt marshes. Nat. from trop. Am.; mostly autumnal. 
Var. anthelminticum Gray. Wormseed. Spikes more elongated, leafless, 
—With the species. The seeds are used as an anthelmintic. 
5. C. californicum Wats. Soap Plant. Stout, erect or decumbent 
at base, 4.3 to 7 dm. high; root large, carrot-like; leaves broadly tri¬ 
angular, 3.6 to 8.4 cm. long.—Stream beds and moist slopes or swales in 
open foothills. The root is grated on a rock by the native tribes and 
used as a soap. 
3. ATRIPLEX L. Saltbush 
Herbs or shrubs, usually mealy or scurfy. Flowers monoecious or 
dioecious. Styles 2. Bracts either free or united, much enlarged in fruit. 
(The ancient Latin name.) 
Annuals; somewhat succulent and mealy ; leaves petioled. 
Leaves mostly lanceolate; fruiting bracts 8 to 12 mm. long.1. A. patula. 
Leaves triangular-hastate or deltoid ; fruiting bracts 3 to 4 mm. long. 
2. A. hastata. 
Perennials; not succulent, commonly white-scurfy ; fruiting bracts red.. 
3. A. semibaccata. 
1. A. patula L. Spear Orache. Stout, erect, 2.4 to 4.3 dm. high; in¬ 
florescence more or less leafy at base.—Common in salt marshes along 
the coast. 
2. A. hastata L. Fat-Hen. Rather slender, with ascending branches 
3 to 7 dm. long; leaves 2.4 to 4.8 cm. long; flowers in dense terminal and 
lateral spikes 2.4 to 9.6 cm. long.—Common in salt marshes near the 
coast. 
