Good-King-Henry | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Amaranthaceae |
Genus: | Blitum |
Species: | B. bonus-henricus |
Binomial name | |
Blitum bonus-henricus | |
Synonyms | |
see text |
Blitum bonus-henricus (syn. Chenopodium bonus-henricus), also called Good-King-Henry, [1] poor-man's asparagus, perennial goosefoot, Lincolnshire spinach, Markery, [2] English mercury, or mercury goosefoot, [3] is a species of goosefoot which is native to much of central and southern Europe.
Good-King-Henry has been grown as a vegetable in cottage gardens for hundreds of years, although this dual-purpose vegetable is now rarely grown and the species is more often considered a weed.
It is an annual or perennial plant growing up to 40–80 centimetres (16–31 inches) tall. The leaves are 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long and broad, triangular to diamond-shaped, with a pair of broad pointed lobes near the base, with a slightly waxy, succulent texture. The flowers are produced in a tall, nearly leafless spike 10–30 cm (4–12 in) long; each flower is very small (3–5 millimetres or 1⁄8–3⁄16 inch in diameter), green, with five sepals. The seeds are reddish-green, 2–3 mm in diameter.
The species was described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus as Chenopodium bonus-henricus in Species Plantarum . [4] Until 2012, the species was usually included in genus Chenopodium , but molecular genetical research revealed that it does not really belong to this genus. It seems to be more closely related to the genus Spinacia , and is now placed in the genus Blitum in the tribe Anserineae. [5] [6] [7] The scientific name Blitum bonus-henricus was first used by Ludwig Reichenbach in 1832. [8]
Synonyms basing on the same type specimen are: Agathophytum bonus-henricus(L.) Moq., Anserina bonus-henricus(L.) Dumort., Atriplex bonus-henricus(L.) Crantz, Chenopodium bonus-henricusL., Orthospermum bonus-henricus(L.) Schur, and Orthosporum bonus-henricus(L.) T. Nees. [9] Heterotypic synonyms are: Blitum perenneBubani, Chenopodium hastatumSt.-Lag., Chenopodium ruderaleKit. ex Moq., Chenopodium ruderaleSt.-Lag., Chenopodium sagittatumLam., Chenopodium spinacifoliumStokes, Chenopodium triangulareDulac, Chenopodium triangularifoliaGilib., and Orthosporum unctuosumMontandon. [10]
Cropping can begin in spring. Some of the new shoots can be thinned out as they appear (usually from mid-spring to early summer) and cooked like asparagus. All cutting should then cease so that shoots are allowed to develop. The succulent triangular leaves may be harvested a few at a time until the end of August and cooked like spinach. [11]
Chenopodium album is a fast-growing annual plant in the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae. Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed. Common names include lamb's quarters, melde, goosefoot, wild spinach and fat-hen, though the latter two are also applied to other species of the genus Chenopodium, for which reason it is often distinguished as white goosefoot.
Tetragonia is a genus of 51 species of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae, native to temperate and subtropical regions mostly of the Southern Hemisphere, in New Zealand, Australia, southern and eastern Africa, and western South America, and eastern Asia.
The Chenopodioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae in the APG III system, which is largely based on molecular phylogeny, but were included – together with other subfamilies – in the family Chenopodiaceae, or goosefoot family, in the Cronquist system.
Chenopodium is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoot, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classification systems, notably the widely used Cronquist system, separate it and its relatives as Chenopodiaceae, but this leaves the rest of the Amaranthaceae polyphyletic. However, among the Amaranthaceae, the genus Chenopodium is the namesake member of the subfamily Chenopodioideae.
Species Plantarum is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the starting point for the naming of plants.
Chenopodium vulvaria, stinking goosefoot is a foul-smelling plant that grows on bare ground in coastal habitats in the Mediterranean region and is associated with dung heaps and disturbed ground inland. It is native to southern Europe and western Asia and has spread to northern Europe other temperate parts of the world, with agriculture.
Dysphania botrys, the Jerusalem oak goosefoot, sticky goosefoot or feathered geranium, is a flowering plant in the genus Dysphania. It is native to the Mediterranean region.
Eriophorum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found in the cool temperate, alpine, and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, primarily in the middle latitudes of North America, Europe, and Asia.
Hylotelephium telephium, known as orpine, livelong, frog's-stomach, harping Johnny, life-everlasting, live-forever, midsummer-men, Orphan John, witch's moneybags, and garden stonecrop is a succulent perennial plant of the family Crassulaceae native to Eurasia. The flowers are held in dense heads and can be reddish or yellowish-white. A number of cultivars, often with purplish leaves, are grown in gardens as well as hybrids between this species and the related Hylotelephium spectabile (iceplant), especially the popular 'Herbstfreude'. Occasionally garden plants may escape and naturalise as has happened in parts of North America.
Blite could refer to any one of the following plants:
Oxybasis chenopodioides is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common name saltmarsh goosefoot. It is native to Europe, Asia and parts of Africa, where it grows on bare mud in brackish hollows in coastal grassland, inland salt steppes and salty deserts. It has spread to similar habitats in both North and South America. Its habitat is an uncommon one and is threatened by agricultural improvement in many areas, but overall its populations are stable. This species often grows with, and is easily confused with the closely-related red goosefoot.
Desmodium paniculatum, the panicled-leaf ticktrefoil, narrow-leaf tick-trefoil or panicled tickclover, is a perennial herb in the pea family, Fabaceae. Belonging to a nearly cosmopolitan genus, the panicled-leaf ticktrefoil is a common native to Eastern North America, ranging from Quebec to Florida and as far West as Texas, Nebraska, and Ontario. The sticky loment can be found in disturbed areas that receive plenty of light, such as roadsides, parks, and abandoned fields.
Spinacia is a flowering plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. The most common member is spinach.
Zephyranthes atamasca, commonly known as the atamasco-lily or more generally a rain-lily, is native to the southeastern United States. It grows in swampy forests and coastal prairies, preferring acid boggy soils rich with leaf mold. Following the appearance of broad, grassy leaves in early winter, it blooms in March or April. It has several narrow, linear basal leaves about 0.5 in (13 mm) wide and 10–15 in (25–38 cm) long. Its native range extends from Florida north to Maryland and west to Mississippi. The species is also naturalized in Bermuda and in the Mariana Islands. Both its leaves and bulbs are poisonous.
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum is a common species of fern known by the common name black spleenwort. It is found mostly in Africa, Europe, and Eurasia, but is also native to a few locales in Mexico and the United States.
Blitum is a genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. It is closely related to genus Spinacia. Its 12 species were traditionally placed in the genera Chenopodium, Monolepis, or Scleroblitum. The species of genus Blitum occur in Asia, Europe, North Africa, the Americas, and Australia.
Oxybasis is a flowering plant genus from the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It was first described in 1841, and newly used since 2012 for five species that were traditionally grouped into genus Chenopodium. They occur in Europe, Asia, North Africa and America.
Lipandra polysperma, common name manyseed goosefoot, is the only species of the monotypic plant genus Lipandra from the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae.
Ceropegia candelabrum is the type species in its genus of plants, belonging the subfamily Asclepiadoideae. The Latin specific epithet candelabrum is derived from the candelabra-like appearance of the inflorescences.
Asparagus albus is a widespread species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to the western and central Mediterranean. It is found in the coastal maquis shrubland biome, and in ruderal situations.