''Chenopodiastrum murale'',
(Syn. ''Chenopodium murale'') is a species of plant in the 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 ...
known by the common names nettle-leaved goosefoot,
Australian-spinach, salt-green, and sowbane.
This plant is native to Europe and parts of Asia and northern Africa, but it is widespread worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical areas due to the ease of it being
introduced.
It is a common weed of fields and roadsides.
Description
This is an annual herb reaching 70 centimeters in height with an erect stem which is usually red or red-streaked green and leafy with green foliage. The oval to triangular leaves are toothed and broad, smooth on the upper surface and powdery on the undersides.
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 are powdery clusters of spherical buds. The buds do not open into typical flower blossoms but remain with the
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
s covering the
ovary
The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...
as the fruit develops.
Uses
The seeds are edible, and the shoots, stalks, and leaves can be eaten as
greens
Greens may refer to:
*Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc.
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* Green politics
* Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics
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. The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that common names include "Australian Spinach" and "Fat-hen". It also states that it is a "pot-herb", which may be utilised in the same manner as spinach. It is called ''oñk i:waki'' in
Oʼodham, 'salt greens'. Although an
introduced plant
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
, it has become a summer green commonly collected from the wild -one of the hottest and more arid areas of North America.
Care should be taken not to confuse this species with deadly
black nightshade Black nightshade is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
* '' Solanum americanum'' (American black nightshade) of much of North America
* ''Solanum nigrum'' (European black nightshade) of Europe
* '' Solanum ptychanthum'' (Eastern bla ...
, which looks similar when young. The leaves of ''Chenopodium murale'' have a white mealy texture, and the axils have a red streak.
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.'' Vol. 42, No. 1, 2012, p. 14.]
*
External links
*
''Chenopodiastrum murale''at Tropicos
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileFlora of North America TreatmentPhoto gallery
Chenopodioideae
Flora of Europe
Edible nuts and seeds
Leaf vegetables
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
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