''Chenopodium leptophyllum'' is a species of flowering plant in the 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 ...

known by the common name narrowleaf goosefoot. It is native to much of western North America, where it is reported 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 ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and northern Mexico, and into central Canada. It can be found in many types of open habitats, often in sandy and gravelly soils, and it grows easily in disturbed areas such as roadsides.

Description

It is an erect or mostly erect annual herb approaching 40 to 60 centimeters in maximum height. It is powdery in texture, especially on the undersides of the leaves. The thin, dusty leaf is linear to narrowly lance-shaped, smooth along the edges, and up to about 2.5 centimeters in length. 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 located at the tips of branches and in the leaf axils. They are arrays of clusters of tightly packed, tiny flowers. Each flower has five lobes in its corolla.

Uses

Among the

Zuni people The Zuni (; formerly spelled ''Zuñi'') are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The Zuni people today are federally recognized as the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, and most live in the Pueblo o ...

, the young plants boiled alone or with meat and used for food. The ground seeds are mixed with corn meal and salt, made into a stiff batter, formed into balls and steamed. The seeds are to be considered among the most important food plants when the Zuni reached this world.Castetter, p.21

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileFlora of North America
leptophyllum Flora of the Western United States Flora of the Canadian Prairies Flora of the United States Flora of the Rocky Mountains Flora of Ontario Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of the California desert regions Flora of New Jersey Plants used in Native American cuisine Flora of Northern America Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Amaranthaceae-stub