Pitseed Goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri)
Description
Chenopodium berlandieri, also known by the common names pitseed goosefoot, huauzontle, and lamb's quarters, is an annual herbaceous plant in the goosefoot family.The species is widespread in North America, where it is native to Alaska and northern Canada south to Michoac-n, Mexico, and including every U.S. state except Hawaii. The fast-growing, upright plant can reach heights of more than 3 m. It can be differentiated from most of the other members of its large genus by its honeycomb-pitted seeds, and further separated by its serrated, more or less evenly lobed lower leaves.Although widely regarded today as a weed, this species was once one of several plants grown by Native Americans in prehistoric North America as part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex. C. berlandieri was a domesticated pseudocereal crop, similar to the closely related quinoa C. quinoa. It continues to be cultivated in Mexico as a pseudocereal, as a leaf vegetable, and for its broccoli-like flowering shoots.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Caryophyllales
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Family: Amaranthaceae
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Genus: Chenopodium
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