14.
Chenopodium desiccatum
A. Nelson, Bot. Gaz. 34: 362. 1902.
Chenopodium leptophyllum
(Moquin-Tandon) Nuttall ex S. Watson var.
oblongifolium
S. Watson
Stems
erect to more often spreading, usually branched from base, 1-1.4(-6) dm, densely farinose.
Leaves
nonaromatic; petiole 0.3-0.4 cm; blade linear, narrowly lanceolate, oblong elliptic, or ovate-lanceolate, 3- (occasionally 1-)veined, 1.5-2.5 × 0.4-0.6 cm, 3-many times as long as wide, thick and somewhat fleshy, base cuneate, margins entire, unlobed, apex acuminate, densely white-farinose abaxially, more sparsely farinose adaxially.
Inflorescences
glomerules in terminal and axillary panicles; glomerules ± densely packed, flowers maturing irregularly; bracts leaflike or absent.
Flowers:
perianth segments 5, distinct nearly to base; lobes obovate, 0.8-1 mm, apex obtuse, carinate, densely farinose, enclosing fruit at maturity; stamens 5; stigmas 2, 0.1 mm.
Utricles
ovoid; pericarp nonadherent, smooth.
Seeds
ovoid, 8-1.1 mm diam., margins rounded; seed coat black, warty.
2
n
= 18.
Fruiting mid summer-fall. Originally found in open undisturbed soils, prairies, and sandy stabilized dunes, but it has spread to disturbed open areas within its native range and beyond; 500-2000 m; Alta., Sask.; Calif., Colo., Idaho, Kans., Mo., Nebr., Nev., Okla., S.Dak., Tex., Utah, Wyo.
