Chenopodium subglabrum (S. Watson) A. Nelson 



SMOOTH GOOSEFOOT 



Goosefoot Family (Chenopodiaceae) 



CONSERVATION STATUS 



U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service: None. 



Bureau of Land Management: Watch (USDI BLM 1996). 



Montana Natural Heritage Program: G3 SI; Vulnerable globally because of rarity, and 

 may be critically imperiled in Montana where it is extremely rare. 



DESCRIPTION: Smooth goosefoot is an annual with erect, simple or highly branched stems 2-3 

 (8) dm (8-16 in) high. The alternate leaves are glabrous, up to 3 cm (1 in) long, have a single vein 

 and are linear with entire margins. Flowers are small, green, and grouped in remote clusters along 

 the branched stem. Each flower lacks petals but has 5 glabrous sepals. The 1 -seeded fruit is 

 compressed hemispheric and ca. 1-2 mm across, exposing a jet-black fruit at maturity that readily 

 separates from the pericarp (fruit wall). Fruiting in late June- July. 



Chenopodium subglabrum sometimes occurs with and is closely related to C. leptophyllum. They 

 both have linear, single-veined leaves, but the latter are farinose white. Chenopodium leptophyllum is 

 also distinguished by densely clustered glomerules, a relatively unbranched growth form, fruits 

 usually 1 mm or smaller, and seeds which do not readily detach from the pericarp. 



Note: Some of the species in the goosefoot genus are exotic gardening nuisances (e.g., lamb's 

 quarters; Chenopodium album) and many are armuals that increase in weedy settings, but this species 

 has not been foimd outside of a narrow range of natural settings where it occurs in the northern Great 

 Plains. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



Global distribution: Specimen review may be needed to clarify distribution. It is known 

 from Manitoba to Alberta, south from Kansas to Utah and Nevada. It is recorded from 

 Washington, Idaho and Oregon, but only one of the five diagnostic characteristics above are 

 consistent with the source, Hitchcock et al. (1994). It is also reported in Gleason (1952) from 

 western Missouri and in Crawford (1975) from Michigan. It is tracked in eight states and 

 provinces at present (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, 

 South Dakota, and Wyoming.) 



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