Amaranthaceae
Spinacia

Spinacia tetrandra Steven ex M.Bieb.

First published in Fl. Taur.-Caucas. 2: 417 (1808)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is E. Türkiye to Jordan and W. Iran. 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 herb, 10–40 cm, with scattered long-stalked bladder hairs or glabrescent, simple or branched from base with several simple stems, remains of fruit “burr” frequently conspicuous at top of rootstock in female plants
Morphology Leaves
Basal and lower cauline leaves sinuose to pinnatifid with broad lobes, or pinnatisect with narrow segments, terminal lobe not so considerably larger than the 2–4 pairs of laterals as in S. oleracea; upper leaves considerably reducing, those of upper part of female inflorescence sessile-amplexicaul, oblong, entire or rarely slightly lobed, those of male inflorescence sessile-amplexicaul, oblong, entire or rarely slightly lobed, those of male inflorescence present only in basal clusters, bract- like
sex Female
Female flowers in clusters of 3–5(–6), valves with a dorsal process; stigmas (2–)3–6 mm
sex Male
Male flowers in panicles, lower clusters becoming more remote; perianth segments oblong, 1.5–1.7 mm, commonly with a few usually large acute teeth; filaments 4, 2.5–3 mm; anthers ± 1 mm
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
All fruits of each cluster fused into a single spiny “burr’ 9–12 mm in diameter including the broad-based 2.5–3 mm spines; surface of fruit smooth or slightly rugose.
Ecology
Semideserts, wadis, riversides, disturbed places; alt. s.l.–1300 m;
Phenology
Flowering & fruiting: Apr.–Jun.
Distribution
Iraq, Caucasus, E Turkey, Iran, Syria.
[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

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • 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