Chenopodium album (Baconweed, Bacon Weed, Fat Hen, Frost-blite, Goosefoot, Lambsquarters, Pigweed, White Goosefoot) - 9 Photos - Chenopodium/album/Amaranthaceae - Plant Profile

Attributes

Native Americans have made a flour from the dried seeds.

Eurasia

While the flowers are wind-pollinated, the leaves are a food source for many caterpillars, beetles, and mammals.

Seeds, leaves, shoots, and flowers can be edible to an extent. However, the seeds have saponins and oxalic acid so cook, steam, and/or freeze before consuming parts of this plant.

Life Cycle:

Annual

Play Value:

Wildlife Food Source

Wildlife Larval Host

Fruit

Fruit Description:

This plant has nearly rounded seeds (being black, green, or brown). Many seeds can come from just one of these plants.

Fruit Type:

Capsule

Fruit Color:

Green

Brown/Copper

Black

Fruit Value To Gardener:

Edible

Display/Harvest Time:

Fall

Fruit Length:

< 1 inch

Fruit Width:

< 1 inch

Flowers

Flower Description:

In (generally) terminal clusters, flowers can be very light green or pink spikes.

Flower Color:

Pink

Green

Flower Inflorescence:

Insignificant

Spike

Flower Bloom Time:

Summer

Fall

Flower Size:

< 1 inch

Leaves

Leaf Description:

There are two types of leaves on this plant– oppositely arranged cotyledons and true, alternate leaves. They are 5" long , goose-shaped (though other shapes are possible too such as triangular, ovate, lanceolate, or even linear), and smooth-margined with some teeth along the edge or lobed. Leaves are green, sometimes with tints of pink, and a white mealy coating produced by tiny hairs on the leaves. The hairs are denser on the underside of the leaves, making it appear lighter in color. As the leaves mature, the white hairs become more sparse.

Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:

Deciduous

Leaf Color:

Green

Gray/Silver

White

Pink

Leaf Type:

Simple

Leaf Arrangement:

Opposite

Alternate

Leaf Shape:

Ovate

Linear

Lanceolate

Deltoid

Leaf Margin:

Entire

Lobed

Serrate

Hairs Present:

Yes

Leaf Length:

3-6 inches

Leaf Feel:

Soft

Velvety

Leaf Value To Gardener:

Edible

Leaf Width:

1-3 inches

Stem

Stem Description:

As a seedling, part of the stem comes in light colors of green, red, purple, or tan and is smooth as well as striated (meaning there are lines on the stem).

Stem Color:

Purple/Lavender

Green

Red/Burgundy

Cream/Tan

Stem Is Aromatic:

No

Stem Surface:

Smooth (glabrous)

Whole Plant Traits

Plant Type:

Annual