Chenopodium, goosefoots |
The lamb's quarters is often found on roadsides
Inflorescence of the lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album)
The scientific name of the goosefoots is a translation of the common name and dates back to Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708).
The more than 100 world wide represented species of the genus are mostly herbaceous plants, rarely subshrubs or small trees. They often have fragile bladderlike hairs, that leave a whitish dust on leaves and flowers. Their leaves are alternate and never composed. The flowers are arranged in terminal clusters or arise from leaf axils. Rarely single flowers occur.
The mostly hermaphroditic flowers are not divided into calyx and corolla and usually have 5 green tepals that often fused and rounded at the base, or they have a wedge-shaped midrib. The stamens are usually pentamerous, sometimes also occur less than 5. The superior ovary mostly consists of 2 carpels. It often bears a stylus and usually shows 2 stigmas. After wind pollination the ovary develops black to red-brown seeds. They are often shrouded by the inwardly folded tepals and are lenticular or nearly spherical.
| Floral formula: |
| * P(5) A5 G(2) superior |
Goosefoots are often confused with orache (Atriplex), but the flowers of the oraches are unisexual. Their female flowers usually have no tepals, but instead 2 basal fused bracts that enclosing the fruit later.
Among the goosefoots, there are salt-tolerant plants such as Chenopodium quinoa. The plants used by South American indigenous peoples as cereal, storing the salt, that is toxic to them, in bladderlike hairs, that are comon in this genus. They let the plants look like dusted with flour.
Historical publications
Dioscorides (1st century AD.) describes botrys (today Chenopodium botrys, Jerusalem oak goosefoot) as a honey yellow, shrub-like plant, whose seeds would grow around the branches, similar to the leaves of the common chicory. Because of their fragrance it would placed between the clothes. Taken with wine it could relieve breathlessness. It would also called Ambrosia or Artemisia.
Almost the same thing mentioned Pliny (about 23–79. Chr.), proving that both have related to a common source.
Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566) writes about the „Wild Molten" (Chenopodium album), it would also called "Ackermolten" (field melde) or "Scheißmolten" (shit melde). It have a squared-off stalk, which was mottled purple-brown.
He distinguishes it from the "Zam Molten" (Atriplex hortensis). About the "Maier" (Chenopodium polyspermum, syn. Lipandra polysperma) he reported that it would be called Blitum on Greek and Latin. It had leaves like chard, however smaller and without any pungency.
Meaning of the species names
- album: lat. albus = white (refers to the white floured leaves and inflorescences)
- polyspermum: gr. poly = many, lat. Sperma = seed (many-seeded)
Interesting notes
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The genus Chenopodium includes the Good-King-Henry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus, syn. Blitum bonus-henricus), which is known as wild vegetables.
In principle, all Chenopodium species are non-toxic when cooked, provided that you do not eat too much of it. The plants contain oxalic acid and saponins, which are harmful in large quantities.