Fat-hen (Chenopodium album) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

Fat-hen, more often called common lambsquarters in the United States, is a widespread of crop fields, gardens, and disturbed ground. Its newest leaves often look dusted with white powder.

Appearance

Growth form: This upright, branching herb is commonly 3–5 ft (0.9–1.5 m) tall.
Leaves: Lower leaves are broad and roughly triangular to egg-shaped, with irregular teeth. Young leaves and their undersides carry a silvery white mealy coating.
Flowers: Tiny green flowers without showy petals form dense clusters at stem tips and leaf joints.
Fruit: The plant makes tiny round seeds, usually black but sometimes larger and brown.

Look-alikes

Halberdleaf orachAtriplex patula

Halberdleaf orach is usually shorter and bushier, with narrower leaves that often have a pair of slim lobes near the base. Common lambsquarters more often has broad, toothed leaves and pale, mealy new growth.

Why they get mixed upBoth can have pale, mealy-looking young leaves and grow on disturbed soil.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: crop fields
gardens
disturbed ground
Range: It occurs widely across the United States and is especially familiar as an agricultural and garden weed.
Preferred conditions: It grows in both acidic and alkaline soils and often thrives in fertile, cultivated ground.

Life cycle

Reproduction: It reproduces by seed. Even plants cut after flowering can sometimes finish producing seed.

Name and classification

About the name: White Goosefoot (var. album) and Missouri Goosefoot (var. missouriense) are named varieties within this species.
Varieties and forms: Some plants have red or purple striping on the stem, but the white coating on young growth remains a useful clue.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
Threats: It is a major crop weed and can also carry viruses that affect crops and ornamental plants.

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