|
| Chenopodium watsonii
A. Nels. |
|
| |
| TAXONOMY |
| |
| Family: |
Chenopodiaceae |
| Genus: |
Chenopodium |
| |
| Species Synonyms: |
Chenopodium olidum S. Wats., non W. Curtis
Chenopodium glabrescens (Aellen) H.A. Wahl
Chenopodium
dacoticum Standl. |
| Common Names: |
Watson’s goosefoot |
| |
| DISTRIBUTION |
| |
| Canada: |
southeastern Alberta – southwestern Saskatchewan |
| Saskatchewan: |
southwestern Saskatchewan; upper South Saskatchewan
River – Frenchman River Valley |
| Ecoregion: |
Mixed Grassland, Moist Mixed Grassland |
| |
| HABITAT |
| |
| Saskatchewan: |
silty or clayey soil in eroded
valley buttons or benches and badlands |
| |
| RARITY STATUS |
| |
Provincial
Status According
to Harms (2003): |
Vulnerable |
| Nature Conservancy
Status: |
G5 N2 S2 |
Saskatchewan
Species at
Risk Status: |
None |
| COSEWIC Status:
|
None |
| |
| Watson’s goosefoot
is vulnerable in Saskatchewan because it is rare or uncommon and is regionally
restricted. Plants are usually locally numerous within a population but
are limited in area. This plant occurs in areas where it may be subject
to the effects of human development and is at the northern extent of its
range. |
| |
| SPECIES
DESCRIPTION |
| |
| Height: |
2 – 20 cm |
| Roots: |
taproot |
| Stems: |
annual, erect to ascending, simple to branched,
grooved, angular, mealy |
| Leaves: |
alternate, stalked, 1 – 3 cm long, 1 –
1.5 cm wide, more or less circular, base wedge-shaped, tip rounded or obtuse,
thick to fleshy, mealy, greyish- green below, margin entire, occasionally
with 1 or 2 basal teeth or lobes |
| Inflorescence: |
large head-like clusters in short, dense, leafy
terminal or axillary spikes |
| Flowers: |
sepals and petals oval, densely mealy, enclosing
seed at maturity; stamens 5; stigmas 2 |
| Fruits: |
seeds horizontal |
| Other: |
odour of dead fish |
| |
| CHENOPODIUM
KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN |
| |
| 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
|
2 |
| |
|
2 Sepals 3; fruits vertical and occasionally
horizontal in the same inflorescence
|
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 |
| |
|
| 4 Leaves with one vein from base |
5 |
| 4 Leaves with three or more veins
from base |
6 |
| |
|
| 5 Plants nearly hairless; pericarp
easily separated from seed |
C. subglabrum |
| 5 Plants mealy; pericarp attached
to seed |
C. leptophyllum |
| |
|
| 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
|
11 |
| |
|
| 7 Sepal lobes covering seed at maturity
|
C. dessicatum |
| 7 Sepal lobes not covering seed at
maturity |
8 |
| |
|
| 8 Fruit achene, pericarp attached
|
9 |
| 8 Fruit utricle, pericarp separable
|
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 |
| |
|
| 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 |
| |
|
| 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 |
| |
|
| 12 Fruits appearing honey-combed on
surface |
13 |
| 12 Fruits appearing smooth on surface
|
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 |
| |
|
| 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 |
| |
|
| 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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