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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY | |||||||||
| The goosefoots are found in a wide variety of habitats around the world, but are especially common in dry or saline soil. Many species are considered weedy or invasive. This family contains over 1,150 fleshy herbs and shrubs. Some species may have kranz venation. This means that if you scrape the leaf with a sharp object you will see a dark network of veins if you look under a microscope at 10X magnification. This character is often used in the identification of plants in this family. The flowers are very small and are found in dense clusters in the leaf axils or at the ends or branches. The sepals and petals are not easily distinguishable, so they may be referred to as the perianth or as tepals. The flowers have five distinct stamens. There is a wide range of physical variation within species. | |||||||||
| WINGED PIGWEED | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Cycloloma atriplicifolium | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Winged pigweed grows 1 to 80 cm tall from taproots. This annual plant is erect or spreading and is very bushy and branched. The stem is grooved and woolly, though it may be nearly hairless at the time or fruiting. The leaves are alternate and stalked with coarsely toothed edges. The fruits are nearly spherical and are enclosed by the winged sepals. The seed is approximately 3 mm across, including the wing. The seed is black, with white silky hairs. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Winged pigweed grows in dry sandy soils. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant grows in southeastern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland and Moist Mixed Grassland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Winged pigweed is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is extremely rare and is highly regionally restricted. This plant lives in fragile, sandy environments and may be sensitive to changes in habitat to human developments. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY WINGED PIGWEED | |||||||||
| * Is the inflorescence like a string of beads? * Is the plant woolly? * Do the seeds have a wing? * Did you find in southeastern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found winged pigweed! | |||||||||
