Chenopodium bonus-henricus

Linnaeus

Sp. Pl. 1: 218. 1753.

Common names: Good King Henry allgood fat-hen wild spinach
WeedyIntroduced
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 279. Mentioned on page 276.

Stems erect to ascending, unbranched, 2.5–7.5 dm, somewhat viscid and farinose. Leaves nonaromatic; petiole 1–12 cm; blade triangular to broadly hastate, 4.5–10 × 3–9 cm, base truncate, cordate, or hastate, margins entire, apex acute (acuminate), adaxially sparsely farinose. Inflorescences: dense glomerules sessile on terminal and axillary spikes, spikes 5–19 cm; glomerules 3–5 mm diam., flowers developing at about same time; bracts absent. Flowers: perianth segments connate into 0.4–0.6 mm tube, lobes oblong or elliptic, 0.8–1.5 × 0.5–1.1 mm, apex obtuse, rounded or truncate, scarcely abaxially keeled throughout, glabrous, not covering fruit at maturity; stamens (4–) 5; stigmas 2–4. Achenes obovoid; pericarp adherent, ± smooth. Seeds obovoid or rotund, 1.5–2 mm in diam. margins not rounded; seed-coat black, rugose.


Phenology: Fruiting early summer–fall.
Habitat: Waste areas and cultivated ground
Elevation: 0-200 m

Distribution

V4 508-distribution-map.gif

Introduced; Alta., N.B., N.S., Ont., Que., Conn., Ill., Ky., Maine, Mass., Mich., N.J., N.Y., Pa., R.I., native to mountains of Europe

Discussion

Chenopodium bonus-henricus is widely grown throughout the temperate regions, occasionally escaping.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"narrower" is not a number."dm" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

dehiscent +  and indehiscent +
glabrous +  and farinose +
keeled +, truncate +, rounded +, obtuse +  and acute +
Steven E. Clemants +  and Sergei L. Mosyakin +
Linnaeus +
slippery +
aromatic +
hastate +, cordate +  and truncate +
Undefined sect. Agathophytum +
4.5 cm45 mm <br />0.045 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
triangular +  and broadly hastate +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br />) +
persistent +  and deciduous +
reddish-brown +, black +, brown +  and green +
Good King Henry +, allgood +, fat-hen +  and wild spinach +
Alta. +, N.B. +, N.S. +, Ont. +, Que. +, Conn. +, Ill. +, Ky. +, Maine +, Mass. +, Mich. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, Pa. +, R.I. +  and native to mountains of Europe +
0-200 m +
hippocrepiform +  and annular +
symmetric +, or +  and uniseriate +
dehiscent +  and indehiscent +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
Waste areas and cultivated ground +
small white +
inflated +
farinose +  and glabrous +
sessile +  and petiolate +
nonaromatic +
not fleshy +
elliptic +  and oblong +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.11 cm1.1 mm <br />0.0011 m <br />) +
not winged +  and winged +
not rounded +
crassinucellate +  and bitegmic +
campylotropous +
1 +  and single +
persistent +  and deciduous +
chartaceous +  and membranaceous +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
Fruiting early summer–fall. +
pointing +  and ascending +
bulbous +  and taprooted +
fusiform +
fleshy +  and fibrous +
reddish-brown +, brown +  and black +
rotund +  and obovoid +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
Weedy +  and Introduced +
cylindric +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (19 cm190 mm <br />0.19 m <br />) +
not imbricate +
keeled +  and rounded +
opposite +  and alternate +
erect +  and ascending +
not fleshy +
2 +  and 4 +
filiform +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +
sessile +  and petiolate +
reduced;small +
horizontal +  and vertical +
verrucate +
Blitum sect. Agathophyton +
Chenopodium bonus-henricus +
Chenopodium sect. Agathophytum +
species +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br />) +
dehiscent +  and indehiscent +
glabrous +  and pubescent +
polygamous +, dioecious +  and monoecious +
not imbricate +
keeled +  and rounded +