Chenopodium. ] CHENOPODIACEAE. 405 
2, CHENOPODIUM Linn. T3s- 
Annual or perennial erect or prostrate herbs, rarely woody at the 
base, mealy or glandular-pubescent, seldom glabrous. Leaves alternate, 
entire or lobed or toothed. Flowers minute, greenish, usually hermaphro- 
dite, sessile in clusters; clusters axillary or in terminal spikes or panicles. 
Perianth 5-partite, rarely 3-4-partite; segments obtuse, imcurved and 
concave, not at all or very slightly altered in fruit. Stamens 5 or fewer; 
filaments filiform or flattened, sometimes connate at the base. Ovary 
depressed or ovoid, styles 2-3, free or united at the base. Fruit an ovoid 
or depressed membranous utricle, wholly or partially included in the 
persistent perianth. Seed horizontal or vertical; testa crustaceous ; 
embryo annular, enclosing the copious mealy albumen. 
A widely distributed genus of from 60 to 80 species, most abundant in temperate 
climates. Of those described below, three are commion in many parts of the world 
as weeds of cultivation or wayside plants, and may not be true natives of New Zealand. 
* Seed horizontal (rarely vertical in C. glaucum). 
Intensely foetid, . prostrate or decumbent, mealy-pulverulent. 
Leaves 4-1 in., triangular-hastate, entire. Flowers in smali dense 
axillary clusters .. a “6 5 Aa .. 1. C. detestans. 
Prostrate or trailing, often glaucous, mealy-pulverulent. Leaves 
i-lin., triangular-oblong or hastate, entire. Flowers in lax 
axillary or terminal spikes or panicles oe re .. 2. CY, triandrum. 
Prostrate, feshy. Leaves $-1} in., oblong or deltoid, sinuate-lobed, 
mealy beneath. Flowers in axillary or terminal spikes .. o& C. glaucum. 
Erect or spreading, green or slightiy mealy. Leaves $-14in., 
triangular or rhombcid, toothed or lobed. Flowers in axillary or 
terminal spikes or panicles nt ov 2 .. 4. OC. urbicum. 
Krect; aromatic, glandular-pubescent, not mealy. Leaves 1-4 in., 
ovate-lanceolate, sinuate-toothed. Flowers very numerous, in 
slender axillary spikes - iS me 4 .. & C. ambrosioides, 
** Seed vertical. 
Glandular - pubescent. Stems 6-i8in., decunibent below, erect 
above. Leaves 1-3?in., oblong, sinuate-lobed or pinnatifid. 
Flowers in dense axillary fascicles... Ln ~ .. 6. CL. carinatum. 
Small, glandular-pubescent, much branched, prostrate, 2-6 in. long. 
Leaves 31,-4in., broadly oblong or orbicular, otscurely sinnate. 
Flowers in axillary glomerules + y ni ..  C. pusillum. 
1. C. detestans 7. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. 1x (1877) 550.—A much- 
branched prostrate or decumbent herb, more or less clothed with a 
whitish granular meal, and with a strong and offensive odour of stale 
fish ; branches numerous from the root, slender, spreading, 6-18 in. long. 
Leaves on slender petioles; blade 4-$in. long, rarely more, triangular- 
hastate or rhomboid-ovate, acute, cuneate at the base, entire or with a 
single tooth on each side. Flowers small, abundantly produced, in dense 
oblong or globose axillary fascicles, often becoming leafy spikes at the tips 
of the branches. Perianth-segments 4 or 5, oblong, obtuse, membranous, 
not completely concealing the fruit. Stamens usually 4. Utricle small, 
horizontal, depressed, brownish-black, minutely punctulate——Cheesem. Man. 
N.Z. Fl. (1906) 579. 
Souru Isianp : Canterbury—Broken River basin, J.D. Enys! T. Kirk ! 7. F.C. ; 
Lake Coleridge, J. D. Enys! Otago—Lakes Wanaka and Hawea, 7. Kirk! Petrie / 
Maniototo Plain, Cromwell, and other localities in the north and central portions 
of the province, Petric / 1000-3000 ft. January-March. | 
Closely allied to the northern C. vulvaria Linn., but a smaller plant with smaller 
often hastate leaves, and with the flowers in dense globose fascicles. It has been 
recorded from Australia b¥ Dr. J. Murray. 
