7b. Leaves sharply or sinuately toothed --9.
8a. Stem erect, simple or sparingly branched =Good King Henry, Chenopodium bonus-henricus.=
8b. Stem diffuse or ascending, freely branched =Orache, Atriplex patula.=
9a. Flowers in small heads, in the axils or in terminal spikes; leaves sinuately toothed or nearly entire =Strawberry Blite, Chenopodium capitatum.=
9b. Flowers in terminal panicles; leaves sharply toothed (Goosefoot) --10.
10a. Panicles short, not as long as the subtending leaves =Goosefoot, Chenopodium murale.=
10b. Panicles long, exceeding the subtending leaves --11.
11a. Calyx green =Goosefoot, Chenopodium urbic.u.m.=
11b. Calyx red =Goosefoot, Chenopodium rubrum.=
12a. Foliage glandular and strongly aromatic --13.
12b. Foliage not glandular nor aromatic; sometimes ill-scented --15.
13a. Flowers in large loose open spreading panicles; leaves deeply pinnatifid =Jerusalem Oak, Chenopodium botrys.=
13b. Flowers cl.u.s.tered in slender axillary or terminal spikes --14.
14a. Spikes dense, leafy =Mexican Tea, Chenopodium ambrosioides.=
14b. Spikes open, nearly leafless =Wormseed, Chenopodium ambrosioides var. anthelmintic.u.m.=
15a. Stem erect, 5-20 dm. tall; leaves frequently white-mealy =Lamb"s Quarters, Chenopodium alb.u.m.=
15b. Stem prostrate or ascending, succulent; leaves glaucous-white beneath =Goosefoot, Chenopodium glauc.u.m.=
15c. Stem widely and diffusely branched; leaves green, soon deciduous =Cycloloma, Cycloloma atriplicifolium.=
AMARANTHACEAE, the Amaranth Family
Herbs, with alternate leaves, and inconspicuous greenish or reddish flowers without petals, which are axillary or in dense cl.u.s.ters, blooming in summer.
1a. Flower-cl.u.s.ters axillary --2.
1b. Flower-cl.u.s.ters in terminal spikes or panicles, sometimes also axillary --3.
2a. Plant prostrate or dec.u.mbent; seed about 1.5 mm. broad =Pigweed, Amaranthus blitoides.=
2b. Plant erect or ascending, widely branched; seeds about 1 mm.
broad (3-10 dm. high) =Tumble Weed, Amaranthus graecizans.=
3a. Princ.i.p.al leaves with a pair of spines at their base =Th.o.r.n.y Amaranth, Amaranthus spinosus.=
3b. Spines none at the base of the leaves --4.
4a. Weedy plants of cultivated or waste ground; flowers monoecious or polygamous; pistillate flowers with a calyx (Pigweed) --5.
4b. Plants of swamps or stream-banks; flowers dioecious; pistillate flowers without calyx (Water Hemp) --7.
5a. Spikes short, 1-8 cm. long, crowded in dense ovoid panicles; the terminal spike not conspicuously elongated beyond the appressed or ascending lower ones =Pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus.=
5b. Spikes slender, 1-12 cm. long; the terminal spike greatly exceeding the short inconspicuous divergent lower ones --6.
6a. Bracts subulate, sharply awned =Pigweed, Amaranthus hybridus.=
6b. Bracts merely ac.u.minate =Pigweed, Amaranthus paniculatus.=
7a. Flowers in leafy spikes, or the lower in separate cl.u.s.ters =Water Hemp, Acnida tuberculata.=
7b. Flowers in separate distinct cl.u.s.ters =Water Hemp, Acnida tuberculata var. subnuda.=
PHYTOLACCACEAE, the Pokeweed Family
Herbs with alternate entire leaves, small flowers without petals, and a many-celled ovary.
One species in Michigan, 1-2 m. high, with numerous racemes of whitish flowers, in late summer, followed by dark-purple berries =Pokeweed, Phytolacca decandra.=
NYCTAGINACEAE, the Four-o"Clock Family
Herbs, with opposite entire leaves and flowers in small cl.u.s.ters surrounded by a broad open calyx-like involucre; the true calyx colored like a corolla; petals none (4-8 dm. high; flowers purple, in summer).
1a. Leaves lanceolate or narrower, sessile =Umbrella-wort, Oxybaphus hirsutus.=
1b. Leaves ovate, petioled =Umbrella-wort, Oxybaphus nyctagineus.=
ILLECEBRACEAE, the Knotwort Family