Blitum bonus-henricus

Last updated

Good-King-Henry
Illustration Chenopodium bonus-henricus0.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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.

Contents

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.

Description

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 18316 inch in diameter), green, with five sepals. The seeds are reddish-green, 2–3 mm in diameter.

Taxonomy

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]

Uses

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]

Related Research Articles

<i>Chenopodium album</i> Species of flowering plant in the goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae

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.

<i>Tetragonia</i> Genus of flowering plants

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chenopodioideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

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.

<i>Chenopodium</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae

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.

<i>Species Plantarum</i> Book by Carl Linnaeus

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.

<i>Chenopodium vulvaria</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Dysphania botrys</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Eriophorum</i> Genus of flowering plants in the sedge family Cyperaceae

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.

<i>Hylotelephium telephium</i> Species of genus Hylotelephium, in the family Crassulaceae (stonecrop family)

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:

<i>Oxybasis chenopodioides</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Desmodium paniculatum</i> Species of legume

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.

<i>Spinacia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae

Spinacia is a flowering plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. The most common member is spinach.

<i>Zephyranthes atamasca</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Asplenium adiantum-nigrum</i> Species of ferns in the family Aspleniaceae

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.

<i>Blitum</i> Genus of flowering plants

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.

<i>Oxybasis</i> Genus of plants

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.

<i>Lipandra</i> Genus of flowering plants

Lipandra polysperma, common name manyseed goosefoot, is the only species of the monotypic plant genus Lipandra from the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae.

<i>Ceropegia candelabrum</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Asparagus albus</i> Species of plant

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.

References

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Great British Bites: Lincolnshire spinach Times Online, 13 May 2008 (registration required)
  3. Grieve, M. (2014). "Goosefoots". A Modern Herbal. Botanical.com. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  4. Carl Linnaeus: Species Plantarum. Vol. 1, Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae 1753, p. 218.
  5. Susy Fuentes-Bazan, Pertti Uotila, Thomas Borsch: A novel phylogeny-based generic classification for Chenopodium sensu lato, and a tribal rearrangement of Chenopodioideae (Chenopodiaceae). In: Willdenowia. Vol. 42, No. 1, 2012, p. 18.
  6. "Blitum bonus-henricus". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  7. Blitum bonus-henricus at National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), accessed 2014-11-26.
  8. Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach: Flora Germanica excursoria. Vol. 2, Cnobloch, Leipzig, 1832, Vol 2, p. 582. online.
  9. "Chenopodium bonus-henricus". Tropicos . Missouri Botanical Garden . Retrieved 2014-11-25.
  10. "Chenopodium bonus-henricus". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 2014-11-25 via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  11. Mabey, Richard (2012). Food for Free. London: Collins. p. 103. ISBN   978-000-743847-1.