Amaranthaceae
Chenopodium

Chenopodium vulvaria L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 220 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Europe to Central Asia and Pakistan, Macaronesia to N. Africa and Sahara. It is an annual and grows primarily in the temperate biome.

Descriptions

Ghazanfar, S. A. & Edmondson, J. R (Eds). (2016) Flora of Iraq, Volume 5 Part 1: Elatinaceae to Sphenocleaceae.

Morphology General Habit
Annual, 20–100 cm
Morphology Stem
Stems branched from base, often decumbent, in young parts mealy, having a strong stale-fish smell
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 1–2.5 × 1–2.5 cm, rhombic or ovate, entire or with a single tooth-like angle on each margin at broadest part, mealy beneath
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence small, terminal and axillary
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Perianth
Perianth segments rounded on back
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds black, rounded at margin.
Ecology
Waste places, nitrate-rich soils, roadsides, rarely as a weed of gardens and fields; alt. 250–1000 m;
Phenology
Flowering & fruiting: May–Aug.
Distribution
Occasional in the Mesopotamian plain and foothills of Iraq. Eurasia, N Africa; introduced in N America, Australia and New Zealand.
Note
The species has a characteristically unpleasant smell of rotten fish, which it does not lose even when growing on sandy ground low in nitrate. However, some populations in Eastern Mediterranean can be almost without smell when fresh (Sukhorukov, obs.).
[FIQ]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Iraq

    • Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. (Eds). (2013-2019). Flora of Iraq, Volumes 5.1, 5.2 and 6.0. Kew Publishing
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images