Fig-leaved Goosefoot

Fig-leaved Goosefoot - Chenopodium ficifolium

Description

Medium to tall, green, mealy plant. Leaves are three lobed with the central lobe much larger than the others and parallel sided. The uppermost leaves are generally narrower and unlobed. Flowers in a slender, branched panicle.

Similar Species

Fat-hen, and other goosefoots.  

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Can be very similar to Fat-hen and difficult to determine from a photo.  To be certain,the seeds must be examined. The testa (the outer covering) of Fig-leaved Goosefoot has regular and conspicuous pits, delimited by ridges (a reticulum).  

Recording advice

From a specimen or from detailed photos of seed testa.

Habitat

Arable land, manure heaps and waste places.

When to see it

July to September.

Life History

Annual.

UK Status

Widespread but local in England, scarce elsewhere in Britain.

VC55 Status

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 13 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records