''Blitum bonus-henricus'' ( syn. ''Chenopodium bonus-henricus''), also called Good-King-Henry, poor-man's asparagus, perennial goosefoot, Lincolnshire spinach, Markery, English mercury, or mercury goosefoot, is a species of goosefoot which is native to much of central and southern

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 ...

. Good-King-Henry has been grown as a

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

in cottage

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s for hundreds of years, although this dual-purpose vegetable is now rarely grown and the species is more often considered a

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

Description

It is an 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 ...

plant growing up to tall. The

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, ...

are long and broad, triangular to diamond-shaped, with a pair of broad pointed lobes near the base, with a slightly waxy, succulent texture. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are produced in a tall, nearly leafless spike long; each flower is very small ( in diameter), greenish, with five sepals. The

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s are reddish-green, 2–3 mm in diameter.

Taxonomy

The species was 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 ...

as ''Chenopodium bonus-henricus'' 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 ...

''. Until 2012, the species was usually included in genus '' Chenopodium'', but molecular genetical research revealed that it does not really belong to this genus. It seems to be more closely related to the genus '' Spinacia'', and is now placed in the genus '' Blitum'' in the tribe Anserineae. The scientific name ''Blitum bonus-henricus'' was first used by Ludwig Reichenbach in 1832. Synonyms basing on the same type specimen are: ''Agathophytum bonus-henricus'' (L.) Moq., ''Anserina bonus-henricus'' (L.) Dumort., ''Atriplex bonus-henricus'' (L.) Crantz, ''Chenopodium bonus-henricus'' L., ''Orthospermum bonus-henricus'' (L.) Schur, and ''Orthosporum bonus-henricus'' (L.) T. Nees. Heterotypic synonyms are: ''Blitum perenne'' Bubani, ''Chenopodium hastatum'' St.-Lag., ''Chenopodium ruderale'' Kit. ex Moq., ''Chenopodium ruderale'' St.-Lag., ''Chenopodium sagittatum'' Lam., ''Chenopodium spinacifolium'' Stokes, ''Chenopodium triangulare'' Dulac, ''Chenopodium triangularifolia'' Gilib., and ''Orthosporum unctuosum'' Montandon.

Distribution and habitat

It can be found throughout Britain and Europe generally, except in the southeast.

Uses

Cropping can begin in spring. Some of the new shoots can be thinned out as they appear (usually from mid-spring to early summer) and cooked like

asparagus Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. Description ...

. All cutting should then cease so that shoots are allowed to develop. The succulent triangular leaves may be harvested a few at a time until the end of August and eaten raw or cooked like

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 flower buds can be cooked as well.

Gallery

File:Plants from Passo Pordoi 14.jpg File:Blitum bonus-henricus.jpg File:Chenopodium bonus-henricus sl1.jpg

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q163805 bonus-henricus Flora of Europe Leaf vegetables Perennial vegetables Stem vegetables Flora of New Jersey Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora without expected TNC conservation status