The order Chenopodiaceæ is particularly rich in sea-side plants, more than a dozen of the British species growing almost exclusively near the shore. They are mostly inconspicuous plants, with small flowers which are sometimes unisexual. The perianth is deeply divided, and the stamens are inserted in its base, opposite the divisions. The ovary is free, containing a single ovule.
The typical genus (Chenopodium) contains the weeds designated by the name of Goosefoot, all characterised by their straggling stems and small flat leaves. One species (C. botryoides) is common on some sandy shores. It is a small weed, its prostrate stem measuring only a few inches in length. The leaves are triangular and fleshy, and the flowers are arranged in dense leafy clusters. A variety of the Red Goosefoot (C. rubrum) is also found on the coast. It is of a reddish colour, with rhomboid leaves and short crowded spikes of flowers.
Fig. 292.—Chenopodium botryoides
On muddy shores we meet with the Common Beet (Beta maritima), the leaves of which are often cooked and eaten where the plant is abundant; and it is this species from which the different varieties of garden beet and mangold wurzel have been produced by cultivation. There are two distinct varieties of the wild plant. In one the root and leaves are of a purple colour, while in the other they are of a yellowish green. The former has been cultivated for its root, while the latter is sometimes grown for the leaves. In the wild state it has many stems, the lower parts being more or less procumbent, and the leaves are fleshy, gradually narrowing down into the stalk. The flowers, which are arranged in long, simple, leafy spikes, are bisexual, with a five-parted perianth, five stamens inserted opposite each segment, in a fleshy ring and a flattened one-celled ovary which develops into a one-seeded utricle.
In similar situations we meet with two species of Sea Purslane (Obione), in which the flowers are unisexual, both male and female flowers being on the same plant. They are also distinguished from most other Chenopods by the perianth adhering to the wall of the ovary. The Shrubby Sea Purslane (O. portulacoides) is, as its name implies, a shrubby plant. It grows to a height of eighteen inches or two feet, bearing silvery oval lanceolate leaves and sessile fruit. The other species referred to—the Stalked Sea Purslane (O. pedunculata)—is herbaceous, with oval, mealy leaves, and stalked fruit.
Fig. 293.—The Frosted Sea Orache