''Blitum'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the

amaranth ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan group of more than 50 species which make up the genus of annual plant, annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some names include "prostrate pigweed" an ...

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, maki ...

, 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 the family Chenopodiaceae, or goose ...

. It is closely related to genus '' Spinacia''. Its 12 species were traditionally placed in the genera '' Chenopodium'', ''Monolepis'', or ''Scleroblitum''. The species of genus ''Blitum'' occur in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Description

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

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

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 (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

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 In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

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

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

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

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

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

stamens The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...

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

pericarp 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. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

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 ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

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 genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

'', Vol. 2, p. 4. Type species is '' Blitum capitatum'' L. Since the second half of the 19th century, ''Blitum'' species were grouped into genus '' Chenopodium'' 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 '' Spinacia'', 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).

Species

''Blitum'' includes 12 species. * '' Blitum antarcticum'' – southern Chile and Argentina * '' Blitum asiaticum'' (syn. ''Monolepis asiatica'' ) – occurring in northeastern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in Sakha and the region of Khabarovsk. * '' Blitum atriplicinum'' F.Muell. (syn. ''Scleroblitum atriplicinum'' ) – distributed in Australia. * '' Blitum bonus-henricus'' (syn. ''Chenopodium bonus-henricus'' ) – Good king henry: distributed in Europe. * '' Blitum californicum'' (syn. ''Chenopodium californicum'' ) – California goosefoot: in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. * '' Blitum capitatum'' (syn. ''Chenopodium capitatum'' ) – strawberry blite: in North America, naturalized in Europe. * '' Blitum korshinskyi'' (syn. ''Chenopodium korshinskyi'' ) – in Tadzhikistan. * '' Blitum litwinowii'' (syn. ''Monolepis litwinowii'' Paulsen, ''Chenopodium litwinowii'' (Paulsen) Uotila) – in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and Tadzhikistan. * '' Blitum nuttallianum'' (syn. ''Monolepis nuttalliana'' or ''Chenopodium trifidum'' ) – Nuttall's povertyweed: in North America and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. * '' Blitum petiolare'' (syn. ''Chenopodium exsuccum'' ) – in North Africa,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, naturalized in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. * '' Blitum × tkalcsicsii'' – Italy * '' Blitum venetum'' – northeastern Italy * '' Blitum virgatum'' (syn. ''Chenopodium foliosum'' ) – leafy goosefoot: in Europe and Asia, naturalized in North America.

Formerly placed here

* '' Neomonolepis spathulata'' (as ''Blitum spathulatum'' )

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