''Blitum virgatum'', ( syn. ''Chenopodium foliosum'') is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name leafy goosefoot. It is native to Eurasia. It can be found on other continents as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

, growing as a minor weed in disturbed habitats and cultivated land.

Description

This is an erect annual herb growing to a maximum height just over half a meter. The leaves are 1 to 4 centimeters long and may be toothed or smooth-edged. 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 are small spherical clusters of tiny reddish-green flowers wrapped around fruits which are about a millimeter wide.

Uses

The leaves and inflorescences are edible and resemble

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

; the plant was grown as a

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

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 ...

in former times, and there is some recent interest in its cultivation again.

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

* virgatum Leaf vegetables Flora of Lebanon Flora of Europe Flora of Western Asia Flora of Russia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Amaranthaceae-stub