General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Annual
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Plant Height: 10 to 150 cm (4-50 inches)
Leaves: Unusual foliage color
Fruiting Time: Summer
Fall
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Flower Color: Green
Other: Yellowish green, covered with whitish meal
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Summer
Fall
Underground structures: Taproot
Uses: Salad greens
Cooked greens
Will Naturalize
Suitable for forage
Edible Parts: Stem
Leaves
Seeds or Nuts
Flowers
Eating Methods: Raw
Cooked
Dynamic Accumulator: Nitrogen fixer
P (Phosphorus)
K (Potassium)
Ca (Calcium)
Mn (Manganese)
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Salt tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Needs specific temperature: Best at 32-41 degrees F (0-5 degrees C)
Other info: Presence of nitrates in soil helps germination
Pollinators: Wind
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger

Image
Common names
  • Lambsquarters
  • White Goosefoot
  • Common Pigweed
  • Fat Hen
  • Wild Spinach
  • Lamb's-Quarters
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Chenopodium album
  • Synonym: Chenopodium album var. reticulatum
  • Synonym: Chenopodium subficifolium
  • Synonym: Chenopodium griseochlorinum
  • Synonym: Chenopodium densifoliatum
  • Synonym: Chenopodium album var. lanceolatum

Photo Gallery
Location: Beautiful Tennessee, my garden
Date: 2017-12-16
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-06-06
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA, Zone 6b
Date: 2023-08-20
Location: Southern Pines, NC (Midlothian road)
Date: May 17, 2023
Lamb's quarters #448; RAB p. 418, 64-3-2; LHB p. 352, 57-1-?, "Gr
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2014-09-01
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2014-05-13
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2014-09-30
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2015-09-20
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2014-07-13
Lambsquarters showed up in the garden
Photo by jon
  • Uploaded by jon
Photo by jon
  • Uploaded by jon
Photo by jon
  • Uploaded by jon

Date: 15 June 2009
Author: Wikipedia user 6th Happiness
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-06-06
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-06-06
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-06-06
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-06-06
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-06-06
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-06-06
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2012-06-06
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2014-09-01
Location: Clinton, Michigan 49236
Date: 2017-11-02
Chenopodium album, 2016, Lamb's Quarters, -, 1-6 Ft #Annual #Weed
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2012-10-03
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2015-08-29
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2015-03-31
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: 2015-03-31
Comments:
  • Posted by dave (Southlake, Texas - Zone 8a) on May 22, 2013 7:24 AM concerning plant:
    This is one "weed" we have a lot of, and I'm glad for it. It's edible (the young tips are especially good eaten out of hand in the garden) and it's a nutrient accumulator.

    I let them grow along the verges and when they get big enough (3 to 4 feet tall) I cut them down and throw them into the chicken yard, where the poultry relish them. We also use them as a free mulch in the vegetable garden.
  • Posted by BlueOddish (South Jordan, Utah, USA - Zone 7a) on Sep 19, 2020 4:05 PM concerning plant:
    The Hopi name for this plant is "Sü'rswa".
  • Posted by Cyclaminist (Minneapolis, Minnesota - Zone 5a) on May 18, 2016 8:49 PM concerning plant:
    A delicious vegetable weed. Has a unique flavor, savory and kind of salty, probably most similar to Swiss Chards (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) or Spinaches (Spinacia oleracea).

    I recommend eating young stems, leaves, and flower clusters. Very good gently stewed with caramelized onions. Old stems are stringy and tough, and not pleasant to eat because the tough parts remain even after they've been cooked. Once the plant starts going to seed, it tends to stop producing leaves even if you cut it back, so best to pluck off and eat the flowers and then cut down the plant for compost.
  • Posted by Bonehead (Planet Earth - Zone 8b) on Nov 1, 2019 10:07 AM concerning plant:
    Native throughout the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East, found in disturbed sites at low to mid elevations. Provides forage for field mice, slugs, beetles, sowbugs, millipedes, and crickets. May be used as a trap crop for leaf miners. It can help restore nutrients to poor soil. Emerges early in the spring, and if you have a lot of it you should pull it before it sets seed, or harvest the seed and use as birdfeed. Leaves and seed are also great to feed to poultry. Has many common names: fat hen or pigweed (used as feed), goosefoot (describing the leaf shape), wild spinach (may be substituted in any spinach recipe). I do not know why most folks call this plant lamb's quarters.
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