Lamb's quarters |
Habit, young plant, inflorescence, top and bottom of leaves and stem of the lamb's quarters
| Chenopodium album L.: | |
| Blooming period: | June–September |
| Height: | 10 cm to 1 m, under very favorable conditions up to 3 m |
| Flowers: | unisexual, radiate, small and
inconspicuous, Ø approx. 2 mm, stamens: 5, styles: 2 |
| Tepals: | 5, fused at base, green, white floured |
| Stem leaves: | alternate, stalked, light green or gray-green, top and bottom floured white |
Plants annual, herbaceous, with taproot that can penetrate up to 1 m deep into the ground.
Stem erect, strongly branched, with blunt edges and green stripes. All branches upright.
Leaves stalked and variable in shape, leaf base wedge-shaped.
Lower leaves usually lobed and irregularly toothed, upper leaves sometimes lanceolate and entire. Otherwise rhombic or ovate to triangular leaves occur, sometimes hastate.
Young leaves and inflorescences appear as if dusted with flour. Older leaves dark green to gray-green.
Floured flowers small, inconspicuous, greenish, white, very short stalked. They appear in dense clusters in the leaf axils and / or on the end of stem. Flowers not divided in calyx and corolla (perigone).
Tepals 5, elliptic, dull, fused at base, lower side keeled.
After self-pollination or occasionally pollination by the wind, the superior ovary develops into a round, black, lenticular, nut-like fruit that is obscured by the tepals.
| Floral formula: |
| * P(5) A5 G(2) superior |
Occurrence:
Fields,
roadsides, ruderal areas, gardens, fallows. Prefers very nutritious
soils.
Distribution:
Originally
probably Himalayas, now spread worldwide.