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| Chenopodium atrovirens
Rydb. |
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| TAXONOMY |
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| Family: |
Chenopodiaceae |
| Genus: |
Chenopodium |
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| Species Synonyms: |
Chenopodium wolfii Rydb. Chenopodium
incognitum H.A. Wahl p.p. Chenopodium fremontii var. atrovirens
(Rydb.) Fosberg Chenopodium aridum A. Nels. |
| Common Names: |
dark goosefoot
pinyon goosefoot
dark-green goosefoot |
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| DISTRIBUTION |
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| Canada: |
British Columbia – Alberta – western
Saskatchewan |
| Saskatchewan: |
western Saskatchewan; Rutland to Matador |
| Ecoregion: |
Aspen Parkland, Mixed Grassland |
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| HABITAT |
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| Saskatchewan: |
open, sometimes disturbed areas |
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| RARITY STATUS |
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Provincial
Status According to Harms (2003): |
Endangered |
| Nature Conservancy
Status: |
G5 |
Saskatchewan
Species at Risk Status: |
None |
| COSEWIC Status:
|
None |
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| Dark goosefoot is
endangered in Saskatchewan because it is extremely rare and regionally restricted.
Some populations are threatened by human development. |
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| SPECIES
DESCRIPTION |
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| Height: |
25 – 60 cm |
| Roots: |
taproot |
| Stems: |
annual, erect, solitary from base, branched above,
branches ascending and spreading, grooved |
| Leaves: |
alternate, short stalked, 1 – 3 cm long,
0.3 – 0.7 cm wide, 2 – 3 times as long as wide, lance-shaped
to elliptic or narrowly oval, tip obtuse to rounded, veins 3 or more from
base; thin, nearly hairless above, margin entire or with basal lobes |
| Inflorescence: |
interrupted, head-like clusters in open, spreading
branched inflorescences, mealy |
| Flowers: |
sepals 5, spoon-shaped, not covering seed at maturity;
petals absent stamens 5; stigmas 2 |
| Fruits: |
single-seeded, bladdery-inflated, horizontal;
pericarp smooth, separable; seed dark, shining, obscurely wrinkled |
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| CHENOPODIUM
KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN |
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| 1 Flowers in spherical heads (then
in spikes); sepals fleshy and bright red in fruit, appearing berry-like
|
C. capitatum |
| 1 Flowers in head-like clusters (then
in spikes); sepals not fleshy and bright red in fruit, not appearing berry-like
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2 |
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2 Sepals 3; fruits vertical and occasionally
horizontal in the same inflorescence
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3 |
| 2 Sepals 5; fruits horizontal |
4 |
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| 3 Leaves densely white mealy beneath,
2 – 3 cm long; sepals greenish; plants of saline soil |
C. glaucum var. salinum |
| 3 Leaves hairless or nearly so beneath,
3 – 10 cm long; sepals becoming reddish with age; plants of lakeshores
and dried sloughs |
C. rubrum |
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| 4 Leaves with one vein from base |
5 |
| 4 Leaves with three or more veins
from base |
6 |
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| 5 Plants nearly hairless; pericarp
easily separated from seed |
C. subglabrum |
| 5 Plants mealy; pericarp attached
to seed |
C. leptophyllum |
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| 6 Leaves linear to narrowly lance-shaped,
1 – 5 times longer than wide, < 1.5 cm wide |
7 |
| 6 Leaves diamond-shaped to broadly
lance-shaped, 1 – 3 times longer than wide, usually > 1.5 cm wide
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11 |
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| 7 Sepal lobes covering seed at maturity
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C. dessicatum |
| 7 Sepal lobes not covering seed at
maturity |
8 |
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| 8 Fruit achene, pericarp attached
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9 |
| 8 Fruit utricle, pericarp separable
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10 |
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| 9 Leaves three times longer than broad
or longer, elliptic to narrowly lance-shaped |
C. hians |
| 9 Leaves 2 – 3 times longer
than broad or less, narrowly oblong to diamond-shaped |
C. strictum var. glaucum |
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| 10 Primary leaves with one or two
lobes or teeth above base; plants erect |
C. pratericola |
| 10 Primary leaves entire or with basal
lobes; plants open and branched |
C. atrovirens |
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| 11 Leaves bright green, square to
heart-shaped at base; seeds larger than 1.5 mm |
C. simplex |
| 11 Leaves light green, at least below,
not square or heart-shaped at base; seeds smaller than 1.5 mm |
12 |
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| 12 Fruits appearing honey-combed on
surface |
13 |
| 12 Fruits appearing smooth on surface
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14 |
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| 13 Pericarp white at maturity; odour
of dead fish |
C. watsonii |
| 13 Pericarp translucent at maturity;
no odour of dead fish |
C. berlandieri |
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| 14 Lower leaves toothed above base,
never entire or with only basal lobes or teeth |
C. album |
| 14 Lower leaves entire above base,
may have 1 or 2 lobes or teeth at base |
15 |
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| 15 Sepals covering fruit at maturity;
fruits approximately 1 mm; plants usually less than 50 cm tall; densely
mealy throughout |
C. incanum |
| 15 Sepals not covering fruit at maturity;
fruits slightly larger than 1 mm (to 1.5 mm); plants commonly over 50 cm
tall at full maturity; mealy on upper surface of leaves and in inflorescence |
C. fremontii var. fremontii |
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