''Blitum nuttallianum'',
(
syn. ''Monolepis nuttalliana'') is a species of flowering plant in the
amaranth family known by the common names povertyweed
and Nuttall's povertyweed. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and common from
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
to
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 ...
to
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. It can be found in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas, often favoring wet places. It is a fleshy annual herb producing two or more erect, reddish, hairless stems up to about 40 centimeters tall. The thick lance-shaped or arrowhead-shaped leaves are up to 4 centimeters in length.
Clusters of several rounded flowers each appear in the leaf axils and yield small fruits about 2 millimeters wide.
Many
Native American groups used this plant as a medicine and a food.
Ethnobotany
/ref> Southwestern tribes ground the seeds, combining them with mesquite
Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera ''Neltuma'' and '' Strombocarpa'', which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these ge ...
beans and corn. The roots are edible, and the young stems are edible when cooked.
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. 17.]
External links
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nuttallianum
Edible plants
{{Amaranthaceae-stub