Chenopodium album

Stems erect to sprawling, simple to much-branched, 1-30 dm, sparsely to densely farinose. Leaves nonaromatic; petiole 1-2.5 cm, shorter than blades or occasionally longer; blade ovate-lanceolate to rhombic-lanceolate or broadly oblong, 1-5.5(-12) × 0.5-3.8(-8) cm, base narrowly to broadly cuneate, margins sinuous-dentate to shallowly serrate or entire, apex acute to subobtuse, farinose abaxially. Inflorescences glomerules or occasionally 1-flowered peduncles in terminal and lateral compound spikes, 2-19 cm; glomerules subglobose, 3-4 mm diam.; bracts absent. Flowers: perianth segments 5, distinct nearly to base; lobes ovate, ca. 1 × 1.1 mm, apex obtuse, keeled, farinose, largely covering fruit at maturity; stamens 5; stigmas 2, 0.2-0.3 mm. Utricles depressed-ovoid; pericarp nonadherent, occasionally adherent, smooth to papillate. Seeds lenticular, margins round, 0.9-1.6 mm diam.; seed coat black, smooth, indistinctly granulate and/or radially grooved, or with faint reticulate-rugose ridges. 2 n = 54. Fruiting late summer-fall. Disturbed soils in open habitats; 0-1400 m; introduced; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash.,...

Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) is a fast growing wild weed that’s easy to find and identify worldwide. Also known as wild spinach, the leaves are tender, sweet and delicious. Since it’s a close relative to cultivated quinoa, you can also use the seeds as a wild foraged grain. Not only is it edible, but lambsquarters also has medicinal uses! Lambsquarters, or “goosefoot” as it’s sometimes called, is one of the best tasting wild edible weeds anywhere. Unlike dandelion greens, which are more like a bitter tonic, young lambsquarter leaves are sweet and tender like spinach or expensive While it’s considered an invasive weed in the US, it’s actually cultivated in the east where it stands up to tropical heat better than regular spinach. The leaves are highly nutritious, and are used to help prevent nutrient deficiencies in rural communities in developing countries. I love to harvest the leaves and snack on them right out in the yard, but they’re also delicious cooked. If you find a mature plant that’s gone to seed, the leaves won’t be quite as tender, but the seed (and seed heads) are edible too. It’s closely related to quinoa, another Chenopodium species, and you can harvest and cook the seed as an If that’s not enough, it’s also medicinal! What is Lambsquarters? Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) is a fast-growing herbaceous annual. It’s native to Europe and eastern Asia but has naturalized worldwide. Lamsquarters has several other common names, including fat-hen, melde, whit...

Lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album) - Lamb’s quarters is one of the most common weeds in gardens, backyards, and fallow fields, following human habitation closely. Like other opportunistic plants, it thrives on the disturbed ground humans inevitably create, but it has also been spread deliberately for millennia around the globe. With tender edible greens, packed with vital nutrients, AND edible seeds, it’s no wonder humans have both foraged and cultivated this free-ranging food for hundreds of generations. The nutritious seeds have been eaten for thousands of years in Eurasia, as evidenced by archaeological digs. 1 A native species of lamb’s quarters ( Chenopodium berlandieri ) was one of the earliest agricultural crops grown in North America—archaeologists have discovered seeds dating back 3,500 years. This cultivated strain of lamb’s quarters predated the cultivation of corn ( Zea mays ) by 1,500 years in eastern North America! Currently, this cosmopolitan weed is eaten in Japan, South Africa, Europe, India, and the Americas. Lamb’s quarters also has a famous cousin: quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa ), a cultivated grain from South America that is closely related (same genus). Lamb’s quarters—also called wild spinach —is one of the most nutritious greens ever analyzed, outcompeting many common vegetables (including domestic spinach) in vitamin and mineral content. 2 However, it is also high in oxalates*, for which there are some precautions—these are outlined in detail at the...

Common lambsquarters ( Chenopodium album) is an annual broadleaf weed that invades lawns and gardens. It was once grown for its edible leaves, but it is best kept out of the garden because it harbors viral diseases, which can spread to other plants. Keep reading to learn more about how to identify lambsquarters before this weed gets out of control. How to Identify Lambsquarters Removing lambsquarter from the lawn and garden effectively is easier once you know how to recognize this weed. The leaves of young lambsquarter seedlings are green with a slight bluish tint on top and reddish purple undersides. The foliage of the youngest seedlings is covered with clear, shiny granules. The granules later turn to a white, powdery coating that is most noticeable on the undersides of the leaves. Mature leaves are oblong or lancet-shaped, wider near the stem than at the tip, and pale, gray-green in color. They often fold upward along the central vein. The leaf edges are wavy or slightly toothed. The height of a lambsquarter weed varies from a few inches (8 cm.) to 5 feet (1.5 m.). Most plants have a single central stem, but they may also have a few rigid side stems. The stems often have red striations. Tiny, yellow-green flowers bloom in clusters at the tips of the stems. They usually bloom from July to September, but can bloom early in the season as well. Lambsquarter Control Lambsquarter weed reproduces only through seeds. Most lambsquarter seeds germinate in late spring or early sum...

Young Pigweed, note the white dusting on the leaves Chenopodium album: Getting Goosed! My first recollection of Chenopodium album, pigweed, came around 1960 via a neighbor named Bill Gowan. Mr. Gowan was what you’d call a wiry man; not tall, not muscular, but strong and an excellent gardener. He, and his wife Maxine Lambert, had degrees in agriculture and were making a good effort at running a farm next door raising a few thousand chickens and seven kids. As was the case back then neighbors helped neighbors. He was over to our place working with us on some plumbing when he saw a huge crop of pigweed where the lawn was supposed to be. (Earlier that year my father had spread hay chaff from the barn on the dirt area set aside for lawn and grew a gigantic crop of wild mustard and pigweed but no grass.) Pigweed seed spikes As Mr. Gowan was leaving he stopped, chewed his pipe stem, slid back on one hip as was his habit, and remarked that the pigweed was very fine looking and would we mind if he took some home for supper? That caught my ears because I didn’t know they were edible. My father told him to take all he wanted and Mr. Gowan went over and yanked up four or five plants that were much taller than he was. He wrestled them from the hard soil and took them all home, stems and all. I can still remember the happy glee he had hauling them out and taking them away. He was a perpetualy skinny man of prodigious appetite so I’m sure he looked forward to them with his lips a-smackin...

Common lambsquarters ( Chenopodium album L.) is a widespread weed of agricultural crops, horticultural crops, and gardens. It also grows in landscapes, waste places, and disturbed sites, on both acidic and alkaline soils, and is common throughout the US. There have been reports of herbicide resistance in the US since 1975 with most reports for corn, but also in soybeans, cropland, nurseries, mint and potatoes. Up until 2001, all reports for resistance were to Photosystem II inhibitors (Group 5, e.g. atrazine). Since 2001, two cases of resistance to ALS inhibitors (Group 2) have been reported in the US. A single plant can produce thousands of seeds, which generally germinate at a depth of 0.5 – 3 cm below the soil surface. Seedlings: Seedlings emerge in the spring to early summer. Cotyledons are distinctively long and narrow, with no midvein and purple undersides. While the first pair of leaves to emerge are opposite each other, all subsequent leaves are alternately arranged. Leaf margins on young leaves are entire or have a few teeth. Surfaces of cotyledons, young leaves, and stems have a grayish-white powdery coating. Leaves: Leaves are alternate and irregularly toothed. Leaves normally roughly triangular but can vary to diamond-shaped or lance-shaped. Freshly emerging leaves have the same grayish-white powdery coating as the seedling. Mature plant: Plants grow up to 1 meter (3 feet) tall, with erect, branching stems. The top of the plant where new growth is occuring reta...

We rely on donations from our users to keep maintaining and extending our free-to-use database of over 8000 edible and useful plants. Currently we are also investing time and effort in preparing two new books on plants suitable for food forests in different warmer climate conditions, to complement the one we published in 2021 on temperate food forests, which has been very well received. Please give what you can to help us complete this work. More >>> Common Name Fat Hen, Lambsquarters Family Chenopodiaceae USDA hardiness Coming soon Known Hazards The leaves and seeds of all members of this genus are more or less edible. However, many of the species in this genus contain saponins, though usually in quantities too small to do any harm. Although toxic, saponins are poorly absorbed by the body and most pass straight through without any problem. They are also broken down to a large extent in the cooking process. Saponins are found in many foods, such as some beans. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[K]. The plants also contain some oxalic acid, which in large quantities can lock up some of the nutrients in the food, but these plants are very nutritious vegetables in reasonable quantities. Cooking the plant will reduce its content of oxalic acid. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidit...

India (Monghyr [Munger], Mirzapur, Dholpur, Alwar, Udaipur, Poona, and Ahmednagar; Bombay Presidency): leaves eaten as a famine food, typically boiled with salt and chili peppers; (Rajasthan, western): leaves eaten. China: stems, leaves and seeds eaten. Russia: seeds used for bread. Kenya: eaten by Nandi people, in Eldoret. Leaves boiled and water discarded. he seeds of Chenopodium album contains around 13.12% protein and has a perfect amino acid balance with a high spectrum of lysine (59 g/kg) and methionine (21 g/kg) . Additional Information Name Authority: L. Vernaculars: Bombay Presidency, Ahmednagar district, Sangamner: Chili. Poona and Ahmednagar districts: Chil. Rajasthan (western): Bathua, Bathusag. Bengali, Hindi: Botha -sag, Bethua -sak, Chandan -beta, Chakai. Sikkim: Kandrabe, Kato bethu, Kanda lathe. Assam: Palang, Tirrhye, Aghu, Aru, Jilmil. Punjab (plains): Bathua, Bathu, Jausag, Chulai, Lúnak. Chena Valley: Irr. Ladakh: Em. Uttar Pradesh: Bethuwa, Charai, Jau ság, Bhútwa. Santal: Bhatua arak. Hindi in Santal Perganas [sic]: Khartua sag. Bombay: Chakwit, Chil. Sindh: Jhil. Ali-Rajpur, C.I.: Chil -babra. Duk.: Khuljeh -ke -baji. Tamil: Parupa kire. Pappu -kura. Sanskrit: Vastuk. Arabic: Kulf. English: Pigweed, Goosefoot, White Goosefoot, Lambs Quarter Misc: Altitude: up to 14,000 feet (in Tibet). Chemical composition (Chinese samples): Protein = 16.1%. Fat = 6.87%. Carbohydrate = 48.85%. Ash = 5.8%. (Leafy stems): Protein = 3.9%. Fat = 0.76%. Carbohydrate = 8....

Stems erect to sprawling, simple to much-branched, 1-30 dm, sparsely to densely farinose. Leaves nonaromatic; petiole 1-2.5 cm, shorter than blades or occasionally longer; blade ovate-lanceolate to rhombic-lanceolate or broadly oblong, 1-5.5(-12) × 0.5-3.8(-8) cm, base narrowly to broadly cuneate, margins sinuous-dentate to shallowly serrate or entire, apex acute to subobtuse, farinose abaxially. Inflorescences glomerules or occasionally 1-flowered peduncles in terminal and lateral compound spikes, 2-19 cm; glomerules subglobose, 3-4 mm diam.; bracts absent. Flowers: perianth segments 5, distinct nearly to base; lobes ovate, ca. 1 × 1.1 mm, apex obtuse, keeled, farinose, largely covering fruit at maturity; stamens 5; stigmas 2, 0.2-0.3 mm. Utricles depressed-ovoid; pericarp nonadherent, occasionally adherent, smooth to papillate. Seeds lenticular, margins round, 0.9-1.6 mm diam.; seed coat black, smooth, indistinctly granulate and/or radially grooved, or with faint reticulate-rugose ridges. 2 n = 54. Fruiting late summer-fall. Disturbed soils in open habitats; 0-1400 m; introduced; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash.,...

Young Pigweed, note the white dusting on the leaves Chenopodium album: Getting Goosed! My first recollection of Chenopodium album, pigweed, came around 1960 via a neighbor named Bill Gowan. Mr. Gowan was what you’d call a wiry man; not tall, not muscular, but strong and an excellent gardener. He, and his wife Maxine Lambert, had degrees in agriculture and were making a good effort at running a farm next door raising a few thousand chickens and seven kids. As was the case back then neighbors helped neighbors. He was over to our place working with us on some plumbing when he saw a huge crop of pigweed where the lawn was supposed to be. (Earlier that year my father had spread hay chaff from the barn on the dirt area set aside for lawn and grew a gigantic crop of wild mustard and pigweed but no grass.) Pigweed seed spikes As Mr. Gowan was leaving he stopped, chewed his pipe stem, slid back on one hip as was his habit, and remarked that the pigweed was very fine looking and would we mind if he took some home for supper? That caught my ears because I didn’t know they were edible. My father told him to take all he wanted and Mr. Gowan went over and yanked up four or five plants that were much taller than he was. He wrestled them from the hard soil and took them all home, stems and all. I can still remember the happy glee he had hauling them out and taking them away. He was a perpetualy skinny man of prodigious appetite so I’m sure he looked forward to them with his lips a-smackin...