| Spinacia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Spinacia oleracea from Otto Wilhelm Thomé's 1885 Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Subfamily: | Chenopodioideae |
| Tribe: | Anserineae |
| Genus: | Spinacia L. |
| Species | |
Spinacia is a flowering plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. The most common member is spinach.
The species in genus Spinacia are annual or biennial herbs. Plants are always glabrous. Their stems grow erect and are unbranched or sparsely branched. The alternate leaves consist of a petiole and a simple blade. The basal leaves are often forming a rosette. The leaf blade is triangular-hastate to ovate, sometimes with elongated lobes, with entire or dentate margins and an acute apex. [1] [2]
The plants are usually dioecious, (rarely monoecious). The male flowers are in glomerules forming interrupted terminal spike-like panicles. They consist of 4-5 oblong perianth segments and 4-5 stamens. Female flowers are in glomerules sitting in the leaf axils. Enclosed by 2 accrescent or united bracteoles, without perianth, they consist of an ovary with 4-5 filiform stigmas. [1] [2]
In fruit, bracteoles become enlarged and hardened, sometimes with dentate margins, sometimes several flowers becoming connate. The membranous pericarp adheres to the vertically orientated seed. The dark seed coat is spiny or smooth. The embryo is annular, surrounding the copious, farinaceous perisperm. [1] [2]
The chromosome base number is x = 6, which is unusual for Chenopodioideae. [1] [2]
The genus Spinacia was originally distributed in temperate Asia, and has been introduced to the mediterranean area early. [3] Spinacia oleracea grows cultivated or naturalized in all temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. [4]
The genus Spinacia was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum , 2, p. 1027. [5] Type species is Spinacia oleracea . The genus name may derive from the Latin "spina" or from Persian "ispanakh" (=spine), referring to the spiny fruit. [1] Spinacia is closely related to genus Blitum , both grouping in Tribus Anserineae (Syn. Spinacieae). [6]
The genus Spinacia comprises 3 species:
Beta vulgaris (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of greatest importance to produce table sugar; the root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet; the leaf vegetable known as chard or spinach beet or silverbeet; and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognised. All cultivars, despite their quite different morphologies, fall into the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris. The wild ancestor of the cultivated beets is the sea beet.
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus Amaranthus. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it the most species-rich lineage within its parent order, Caryophyllales.
Blitum bonus-henricus, also called Good-King-Henry, poor-man's asparagus, perennial goosefoot, Lincolnshire spinach, Markery, English mercury, or mercury goosefoot, is a species of goosefoot which is native to much of central and southern Europe.
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.
Atriplex is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache. It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae s.l.. The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments. The generic name originated in Latin and was applied by Pliny the Elder to the edible oraches. The name saltbush derives from the fact that the plants retain salt in their leaves; they are able to grow in areas affected by soil salination.
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.
Grayia is a genus of plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Common names are siltbush and hopsage. The four shrubby species occur in arid and semiarid regions of western North America:
Grayia spinosa is a species of the genus Grayia in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae, which is known by the common names hop sage and spiny hop sage. It is widely distributed across the Western United States, where it grows in a number of desert and mountain habitats.
Krascheninnikovia is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae known as winterfat, so-called because it is a nutritious livestock forage. They are known from Eurasia and western North America. These are hairy perennials or small shrubs which may be monoecious or dioecious. They bear spike inflorescences of woolly flowers.
Blitum virgatum, is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name leafy goosefoot. It is native to Eurasia. It can be found on other continents as an introduced species, growing as a minor weed in disturbed habitats and cultivated land.
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.
Dysphania is a plant genus in the family Amaranthaceae, distributed worldwide from the tropics and subtropics to warm-temperate regions.
Chenopodiastrum is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus was formally described in 2012. The 5 species occur in Eurasia, North Africa, and North America.
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.
Halimione is a plant genus from the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It is a sister genus of Atriplex and is included in that genus by Plants of the World Online.
Extriplex is a plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It has been described in 2010 and comprises two species, that were formerly included in genus Atriplex. They are restricted to the California Floristic Province.
Stutzia is a plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It was described in 2010, replacing the illegitimate name Endolepis. It comprises two species, that have also been included in the genus Atriplex.
Proatriplex is a monotypic plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae, with the only species Proatriplex pleiantha. It is known by the common names four-corners orach and Mancos shadscale. It occurs in the Navajo Basin of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.
