Discover

(Redirected from Fat Hen)
:''"Fat hen" redirects here, "fat hen" may also refer to the version of the Federal Eagle in the Bundestag.''
'''Chenopodium album''' is a fast-growing, upright, weedy annual plant that is common in temperate regions. It occurs almost everywhere in soils rich in nitrogen, especially on wasteland.
The species is commonly known as goosefoot, fat hen, white goosefoot, lamb's quarters or dungweed.
Its pollen can contribute to hayfever-like allergies.

Contents

Description

Taxonomy

Use

Food

Walking stick

Cultivation

Propagation and pests

References

External links

Description

It tends to grow upright at first, reaching heights of 30-80 cm, but typically becomes recumbent after flowering (due to the weight of the foliage and seeds) unless supported by other plants.
The leaves are alternate and can be very varied in appearance. The first leaves, near the base of the plant, are toothed and roughly diamond-shaped, 3-7 cm long and 3-6 cm broad. The leaves on the upper part of the flowering stems are entire and lanceolate-rhomboid, 1-5 cm long and 0.4-2 cm broad. The leaves are waxy-coated, unwettable and mealy in appearance, with a whitish coat on the underside.
The small flowers are radially symmetrical and grow in small cymes on a dense branched inflorescence 10-40 cm long.

Taxonomy

''Chenopodium album'' has a very complex taxonomy and has been divided in numerous microspecies, subspecies and varieties, but it is difficult to differentiate between them. Published names and synonyms include ''C. album'' var. ''microphyllum'', ''C. album'' var. ''missouriense'', ''C. album'' var. ''stevensii'', ''C. album'' subsp. ''striatum'', ''C. acerifolium, C. centrorubrum, C. giganteum, C. jenissejense, C. lanceolatum, C. pedunculare'' and ''C. probstii''. It also hybridises readily with several other ''Chenopodium'' species, including ''C. berlandieri, C. ficifolium, C. opulifolium, C. strictum'' and ''C. suecicum''.

Use

Food

Lamb's quarters may be eaten as a vegetable, either steamed in its entirety, or the leaves are cooked like spinach as a leaf vegetable. Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds. These are high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Quinoa is a closely related species which is grown specifically for its seeds.
As the common names suggest, it is also used as food (both the leaves and the seeds) for chickens, hens and other poultry. However, the nitrates in the plant can be converted very efficiently to nitrites in the rumen of cattle leading to changes in hemoglobin and reducing the ruminants' oxygen binding capacity.

Walking stick

The stalk of ''Chenopodium album'' hardens with age. In China, the stalk had been used as a walking stick since ancient times. For example, the following passage comes from :

... the old man had a youthful countenance, and was carrying a 'pigweed' (Chenopodium album) walking stick. (Wikisource translation)

Cultivation

The species is commonly regarded as a weed but it is cultivated as a grain or vegetable crop in some parts of the world.^[1]
Lamb's quarters is one of the more competitive weeds, capable of producing crop losses of up to 13% in corn, 25% in soybeans, and 48% in sugar beets at an average plant distribution.
It may be controlled by dark tillage, rotary hoeing, or flaming when the plants are small. Crop rotation of small grains will suppress an infestation. It is, however, difficult to control with chemical means.

Propagation and pests

''Chenopodium album'' is vulnerable to leaf miners, making it a useful trap crop as a companion plant. Growing near other plants, it attracts leaf miners which might otherwise have attacked the crop to be protected. It is a host plant for the beet leafhopper, an insect which transmits curly top virus to beet crops.

References

1. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.

External links

★ PROTAbase on ''Chenopodium album''