Goosefoot White

March 28th, 2008

Botanical Name: Chenopodium album (LINN.)
Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Caryophyllales

Family: Amaranthaceae

Genus: Chenopodium

Synonyms: Frost Blite. Mutton Tops. Dirtweed. Lamb’s Quarters. Dirty Dick. Midden Myles. Pigweed (Canada). Baconweed. Fat Hen.. The standard English name is Fat-hen; other names include white goosefoot, lamb’s quarters, pigweed or dungweed, or more ambiguously as just goosefoot.
Part Used: Herb.
Range & Habitat: Woodland Goosefoot occurs occasionally throughout Illinois (see Distribution Map). Habitats include open woodlands, woodland borders, thickets, rocky bluffs, and partially shaded roadsides. Disturbance that reduces the overhead tree canopy may benefit populations of this plant in wooded areas.
Its native range is obscure due to extensive cultivation, but includes most of Europe, from where Linnaeus described the species in 1753. Plants native in eastern Asia are included under C. album, but often differ from European specimens. It is widely introduced elsewhere, e.g. Africa, Australasia, North America, and Oceania, and now occurs almost everywhere in soils rich in nitrogen, especially on wasteland.

The White Goosefoot (Chenopodium album, Linn.), so called from its mealy leaves, rejoices in old manure heaps, and if the manure is stacked up on a farm ready for use at a later season, it is soon overrun by this weed, which has thus gained the popular names of ‘Midden Myles,’ ‘Dirtweed’ and ‘Dirty Dick.’

It shares with its near relative Good King Henry the names of Allgood and Fat Hen from its usefulness as a pot-herb and its reputed value in feeding poultry. ‘Boil Myles in water and chop them in butter and you will have a good dish,’ is an old English saying. It is a very wholesome medicine, as well as a pleasant vegetable, and an excellent substitute for spinach.

Description:

This native plant is a summer annual up to 4′ tall that usually branches abundantly. The lanky stems are erect, ascending, or sprawling (especially the latter if they become entangled with vines). In addition, the stems are light green, glabrous or sparingly white-mealy, and terete or somewhat angular; smaller stems are often finely striated (with many narrow ridges). The alternate leaves are up to 2Â½” long and 1/3″ across; the lower and middle leaves are lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong, while the upper leaves are linear. The leaf margins are smooth or slightly undulate; some of the lower leaves may have 1 or 2 obtuse basal lobes. The upper surface of each leaf is medium to dark green and glabrous, while its lower surface has the same characteristics; however, some of the uppermost leaves may be slightly white-mealy on the lower surface. Each leaf has a prominent central vein, and some of the larger leaves may have a pair of lateral veins that are conspicuous. The slender petioles of the leaves are up to one-third the length of the blades. The upper stems terminate in elongated panicles of flowers up to 6″ long; these flowers are organized into tight clusters along the branches of each panicle. There are also non-terminal spikes of flowers that originate from the axils of the upper leaves. The branches of each inflorescence are more or less white-mealy. Each flower is up to 1/8″ across, consisting of 5 sepals, 5 stamens, no petals, and a pair of short styles above the ovary. The sepals are green, yellowish green, or purplish green, and more or less white-mealy. The blooming period occurs from mid-summer into the fall and can last 1-2 months for an individual plant. The flowers are wind-pollinated. Each flower develops a single small seed about 1 mm. across; the persistent sepals barely cover the upper sides of this seed. Each seed is flattened and round; it is covered by a thin papery membrane that is easy to remove. Once this membrane is removed, the surface of the seed is smooth, shiny, and black. The root system consists of a branching taproot. This plant reproduces by reseeding itself.

Click to enlarge:->.…….……

Woodland Goosefoot is one of the few Chenopodium spp. (Goosefoots) that is native to Illinois. This plant is rather weedy in appearance, but it shouldn’t be destroyed unnecessarily. In general, the different species of Goosefoots are difficult to distinguish from each other. Woodland Goosefoot differs from the others by the following combination of characteristics: 1) It has narrow lanceolate leaves, 2) the lower surface of its leaves is usually as dark and glabrous as the upper surface, and 3) the thin papery membranes covering its seeds are easy to remove. Other Goosefoots have wider leaves, and/or the lower surface of their leaves is more pale and white-mealy, and/or the thin papery membranes covering their seeds are persistent and difficult to remove. Other Goosefoots with narrow leaves (e.g., Chenopodium lanceolatum, Chenopodium dessicatum, and Chenopodium pratericola) usually occur in sunnier habitats than Woodland Goosefoot. However, the lower surface of their leaves is conspicuously white-mealy. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the various Goosefoots in Illinois can be found in Mohlenbrock (2001).

Cultivation: The preference is partial sun or dappled sunlight, mesic to slightly dry conditions, and soil that is loamy or rocky. The size and growth habit of this plant is variable, depending on environmental conditions
It tends to grow upright at first, reaching heights of 10-150 cm (rarely to 3 m), but typically becomes recumbent after flowering (due to the weight of the foliage and seeds) unless supported by other plants. The leaves are alternate and can be very varied in appearance. The first leaves, near the base of the plant, are toothed and roughly diamond-shaped, 3-7 cm long and 3-6 cm broad. The leaves on the upper part of the flowering stems are entire and lanceolate-rhomboid, 1-5 cm long and 0.4-2 cm broad; they are waxy-coated, unwettable and mealy in appearance, with a whitish coat on the underside. The small flowers are radially symmetrical and grow in small cymes on a dense branched inflorescence 10-40 cm long.

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This nutritious plant is grown as food for pigs and sheep in Canada, where it is called ‘Pigweed.’

The young and tender plants are collected by the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, and boiled as herbs, alone or with other food; large quantities also are eaten in the raw state. The seeds of this species are gathered by many tribes, ground into flour after drying and made into bread. The flour resembles that of Buckwheat in colour and taste and is regarded as equally nutritious. The small grey seeds are not unpleasant when eaten raw.

Uses:

Food
The leaves and young shoots may be eaten as a leaf vegetable, either steamed in its entirety, or cooked like spinach. Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds. These are high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Quinoa is a closely related species which is grown specifically for its seeds.

As the common names suggest, it is also used as food (both the leaves and the seeds) for chickens, hens and other poultry. However, the nitrates in the plant can be converted very efficiently to nitrites in the rumen of cattle, leading to changes in haemoglobin and reducing the ruminants’ oxygen binding capacity.

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/goosef30.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenopodium_album
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/savanna/plants/wd_goosefoot.htm