CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 113 
good “greens”’ as its cultivated relatives, the spinach and the beet; 
also, it is a frequent host of the insect enemies, mildews, and rusts 
that injure those plants. (Fig. 69.) 
The stem sometimes attains to six feet, but is usually two to four 
feet tall, stout, erect, ridged and grooved, much branched, often 
striped with pink or purple, growing from 
a short, stout main root with many 
branching rootlets. Leaves rhombic- 
ovate or goosefoot-shaped near the base, 
but become more narrow and _ lance- 
shaped as they ascend the stem until 
those near the top are often nearly 
linear; smooth and green above but 
often covered on the under side with a 
mealy secretion, especially when young, 
the lower ones irregularly cut and 
toothed, with petioles often as long as the 
blades. Flowers small, green, crowded 
on spiked panicles in the axils and at 
the summit of stem and branches; calyx 
with five lobes, keeled and enfolding the 
seed, which is lens-shaped, small and 
black; these seeds have very long vi- 
tality, lying dormant in the soil for 
years and germinating when brought 
near the surface by cultivation. Pig- 
weed seeds are nearly always found in 
dirty grain, and often in clover and 
grass seed and in alfalfa; though, being tye. 69. — Smooth Pigweed 
lighter, they should be easily removed. — (Chenopodium album). x 3. 
Means of control 
In hoed crops the weed is very persistent and cultivation should 
be continued until late in the season, else the soil will be strewn with 
late matured seeds. In gardens and other small areas, it should be 
hoé-cut or hand-pulled while young. When the plant appears in 
grain fields, it should be harrowed out with one of the small-toothed 
harrows known as weeders, in the spring, when the grain is but 
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