The Lambsquarters,
or Chenopodiaceae, family is also known as the Goosefoot family. The goosefoot
comes from the distinctive shape of the leaves. As a grad student I grabbed
our goose and took the photo here of its foot. Believe me, the goose was
not happy with this photo opportunity.
Common lambsquarters
is a very competitive, adaptive weed. The picture on the left is a small,
wimpy looking plant that managed to get a toe-hold (rooted) on this railroad
siding in upper Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. Any plant that can produce
offspring with this amount of resources is going to win every time.
And it does as well
in our corn fields. Here is some runaway common lambsquarters that has
so harmed the corn that it has drought stressed, curled leaves. This weed
is a tough competitor for both nutrients and water.Seed:
