Species

Chenopodium album

Etymology

Chenopodium: From the Greek chen 'goose' and pous 'foot', referring to the shape of the leaves
album: white

Common Name(s)

fathen

Family

Amaranthaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

CHEALB

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Similar Taxa

Taproot short and much branched. Stems 0.9 to 1.2 m tall, smooth, grooved, often with red or light green striations. Branching varies from little to much, depending on competition. Leaves alternate 2.5 to 7.5 cm long, smooth, usually white mealy-coated, especially on underside and in early stages, and with edges more or less toothed. Flowers small, green, without petals, borne at ends of branches and in the axils of leaves (Wax, Fawcett and Isely 1981).

Flower Colours

Green,White

Year Naturalised

1867

Origin

Temperate Eurasia, N. Africa

Reproduction
seed

Seed
Seed, shiny, black, disk-shaped, 1.5 mm in diameter with a grey hull (Wax, Fawcett and Isely 1981).

This page last updated on 5 May 2011