Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
An eye-catching chenopod: tree spinach,
Chenopodium giganteum
The purplish red typical of many chenopods. This is a stalk of tree spinach,
Chenopodium giganteum
.
Overview of the goosefoot family
COMMON NAME
GENUS
SPECIES
spinach
Spinacia
oleracea
beets
Beta
vulgaris
ssp.
vulgaris
convar.
vulgaris
var.
vulgaris
spinach beet
Beta
vulgaris
ssp.
vulgaris
convar.
cicla
var.
cicla
Swiss chard
Beta
vulgaris
ssp.
vulgaris
convar.
cicla
var.
flavescens
orache
Atriplex
hortensis
good King Henry
Chenopodium
bonus-henricus
quinoa
Chenopodium
quinoa
strawberry spinach
Chenopodium
foliosum
SPINACH
Spinacia oleracea
Spinach is a popular leaf vegetable and an excellent green manure plant. It produces leaves prolifically
in cool, moist weather, but as days get longer and hotter, plants quickly bolt. (Try growing heat-toler-
ant New Zealand spinach or orache in high summer to harvest spinach-like leaves throughout the
growing season.) The high iron content of spinach is, by the way, a myth! Apparently, a typographical
error in an early analysis of its nutritional value increased the iron content tenfold. It does, however,
contain a considerable amount of oxalic acid, which binds with calcium, which is needed for bone
