Palmer's pigweed

Images

Click on image to view full size

Palmer's pigweed stem

Palmer's pigweed

Palmer's pigweed

Palmer's pigweed leaf

Palmer's pigweed inflorescence

Palmer's pigweed

Palmer's pigweed flowers

Palmer's pigweed inflorescence

Palmer's pigweed

Palmer's pigweed inflorescence

Morphology

Stem

Stems ascending to erect, simple to much-branched, glabrous; nodes without paired spines.

Leaves

Cauline, alternate; long-petiolate; blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, .4 to 4 inches long, .4 to 1.4 inch wide, base acute to rounded, margins entire, tip obtuse to short-acuminate, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescence

Panicles, terminal, often long and slender, usually also with axillary spikes; bracts 3, ovate, distinctly longer than tepals, 1/6 to 1/4 inch, apex long-acuminate to subulate.

Flower

Staminate flowers: tepals 5, unequal, lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, outer ones ca. 1/6 inch, apex awn-like, inner ones 1/10 to 1/8 inch, apex acuminate or notched and awn-like; stamens 5. Pistillate flowers: tepals 5, unequal, oblanceolate to spatulate, outer ones 1/8 to 1/6 inch, awn-like, inner ones 1/12 to 1/8 inch, rounded or acute; stigmas 2(-3).

Fruit

Utricles .06 to .08 inch; seeds black, biconvex, .04 to .05 inch.

Ecology

Habitat

Sandy fields, river and stream floodplains, roadsides, and waste places.

Distribution

Occurs nearly statewide

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans in the Southwest rolled the cooked plants into a ball that was baked and stored for future use and would sun dry the seeds and grind them for food.

Additional Notes