''Blitum'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the

amaranth ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely pack ...

family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

, subfamily

Chenopodioideae The Chenopodioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae in the APG III system, which is largely based on molecular phylogeny, but were included - together with other subfamilies - in family Chenopodiaceae in the Cronquist ...

. It is closely related to genus ''

Spinacia ''Spinacia'' is a flowering plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. The most common member is spinach. Description The species in genus ''Spinacia'' are annual or biennial herbs. Plants are always glabrous. ...

''. Its 12 species were traditionally placed in the genera ''

Chenopodium ''Chenopodium'' is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classifica ...

'', ''Monolepis'', or ''Scleroblitum''. The species of genus ''Blitum'' occur in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

The species in genus ''Blitum'' are non-aromatic

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herbs. They are glabrous, or sometimes covered with stipitate vesicular hairs, young plants may be sticky. From the base emerge several erect, ascending or prostrate stems, that are unbranched or sparsely branched. The alternate

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

consist of a petiole and a simple blade. The basal leaves are often long-petiolate and forming a rosette. The leaf blade is thin oder slightly fleshy, and may be triangular, triangular-hastate, triangular-lanceolate, or spathulate, with entire to dentate margins. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s consist of spicately arranged compact glomerules of flowers, ebracteate or in the axils of small leaf-like bracts. Flowers are

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

pistillate Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

. They contain (1) 3-5 herbaceous, unkeeled

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

segments, connate only at base or nearly to the middle, sometimes missing; a circle of 1-5

stamens The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

; and an ovary with 2-4 stigmas. In fruit, the perianth becomes either succulent or dry and hard. The

pericarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggre ...

is membranous and usually adhering to the vertically orientated, broadly ovate to orbicular seed. The seed coat is dark brown to black, its surface can be dull, almost smooth, slightly striate, rugulose, or reticulate.

Systematics and distribution

The genus ''Blitum'' was first described in 1753 by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...

'', Vol. 2, p. 4. Type species is ''

Blitum capitatum Strawberry blite (''Blitum capitatum'', syn. ''Chenopodium capitatum'') is an edible annual plant, also known as blite goosefoot, strawberry goosefoot, strawberry spinach, Indian paint, and Indian ink. It is native to most of North America thr ...

'' L. Since the second half of the 19th century, ''Blitum'' species were grouped into genus ''

'' and treated as a subgenus, ''Chenopodium'' subgenus ''Blitum''. Phylogenetic research revealed, that these species, as well as species of ''Monolepis'' and ''Scleroblitum'', are more closely related to ''

'', and do not really belong to ''Chenopodium''. Therefore Fuentes-Bazan et al. (2012) separated them as own genus ''Blitum''. Together with ''Spinacia'', the genus ''Blitum'' was grouped into tribe Anserineae (syn. Spinacieae). According to Fuentes-Bazan (2012), ''Blitum'' consists of 12 species: * '' Blitum asiaticum'' (Fisch. & C. A. Mey) S. Fuentes, Uotila & Borsch, (syn. ''Monolepis asiatica'' Fisch. & C. A. Mey): occurring in northeastern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Sakha Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...

and the region of

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

. * ''

Blitum atriplicinum ''Blitum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. It is closely related to genus ''Spinacia''. Its 12 species were traditionally placed in the genera ''Chenopodium'', ''Monolepis'', or '' ...

'' F. Muell., (syn. ''Scleroblitum atriplicinum'' (F. Muell.) Ulbr.): distributed in Australia. * '' Blitum bonus-henricus'' (L.) Rchb. (syn. ''Chenopodium bonus-henricus'' L.), Good king henry: distributed in Europe. * '' Blitum californicum'' S. Watson, (syn. ''Chenopodium californicum'' (S.Watson) S.Watson), California goosefoot: in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. * ''

'' L., (syn. ''Chenopodium capitatum'' (L.) Ambrosi), strawberry blite: in North America, naturalized in Europe. * '' Blitum hastatum'' Rydb., (syn. ''Chenopodium capitatum'' var. ''parvicapitatum'' Welsh): in North America. * '' Blitum korshinskyi'' Litv., (syn. ''Chenopodium korshinskyi'' (Litv.) Minkw): in

Tadzhikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centra ...

. * '' Blitum litwinowii'' (Paulsen) S. Fuentes, Uotila & Borsch, (syn. ''Monolepis litwinowii'' Paulsen, ''Chenopodium litwinowii'' (Paulsen) Uotila): in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

. * '' Blitum nuttallianum'' Schult., (syn. ''Monolepis nuttalliana'' (Schult.) Greene, ''Chenopodium trifidum'' Trev.), Nuttall's povertyweed: in North America and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. * '' Blitum petiolare'' Link, (syn. ''Chenopodium exsuccum'' (C. Loscos) Uotila): in North Africa,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, naturalized in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. * '' Blitum spathulatum'' (A. Gray) S. Fuentes, Uotila & Borsch, (syn. ''Monolepis spathulata'' A. Gray): in southern North America, naturalized in Australia. * ''

Blitum virgatum ''Blitum virgatum'', ( syn. ''Chenopodium foliosum'') is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name leafy goosefoot. It is native to Eurasia. It can be found on other continents as an introduced species, growin ...

'' L. (syn. ''Chenopodium foliosum'' Asch.), leafy goosefoot: in Europe und Asia, naturalized in North America.

References

* Susy Fuentes-Bazan, Pertti Uotila, Thomas Borsch: A novel phylogeny-based generic classification for Chenopodium sensu lato, and a tribal rearrangement of Chenopodioideae (Chenopodiaceae). In: ''Willdenowia'' 42, 2012, p. 16-18. ''Species Plantarum'' at BHL
/ref> {{Taxonbar, from=Q8248805 Amaranthaceae genera Chenopodioideae