Blitum

Blitum
strawberry blite (Blitum capitatum)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Chenopodioideae
Tribe: Anserineae
Genus: Blitum
L.
Synonyms
  • Morocarpus Boehmer
  • Chenopodium sect. Blitum (L.) Benth. & Hook f.
  • Chenopodium sect. Eublitum
  • Chenopodium subg. Blitum (L.) Hiitonen
  • Anserina Dumort
  • Agathophytum Moq.
  • Orthosporum subg. Agathophytum T. Nees
  • Chenopodium sect. Agathophytum (T. Nees) Benth. & Hook. f.
  • Monolepis Schrad.
  • Scleroblitum Ulbr.
  • Chenopodium sect. Atriplicina Aellen
  • Chenopodium [unranked] Californica Standl.

Blitum is a genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. It is closely related to genus Spinacia. Its 12 species were traditionally placed in the genera Chenopodium, Monolepis, or Scleroblitum. The species of genus Blitum occur in Asia, Europe, North Africa, the Americas, and Australia.

Description

The species in genus Blitum are non-aromatic annual or perennial herbs. They are glabrous, or sometimes covered with stipitate vesicular hairs, young plants may be sticky. From the base emerge several erect, ascending or prostrate stems, that are unbranched or sparsely branched.

The alternate leaves consist of a petiole and a simple blade. The basal leaves are often long-petiolate and forming a rosette. The leaf blade is thin oder slightly fleshy, and may be triangular, triangular-hastate, triangular-lanceolate, or spathulate, with entire to dentate margins.

The inflorescences consist of spicately arranged compact glomerules of flowers, ebracteate or in the axils of small leaf-like bracts. Flowers are bisexual or pistillate. They contain (1) 3-5 herbaceous, unkeeled perianth segments, connate only at base or nearly to the middle, sometimes missing; a circle of 1-5 stamens; and an ovary with 2-4 stigmas.

In fruit, the perianth becomes either succulent or dry and hard. The pericarp is membranous and usually adhering to the vertically orientated, broadly ovate to orbicular seed. The seed coat is dark brown to black, its surface can be dull, almost smooth, slightly striate, rugulose, or reticulate.

Systematics and Distribution

Good king henry (Blitum bonus-henricus)
California goosefoot (Blitum californicum)
Nuttall's povertyweed (Blitum nuttallianum)
leafy goosefoot (Blitum virgatum)

The genus Blitum was first described in 1753 by Carolus Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, Vol. 2, p. 4.[1] Type species is Blitum capitatum L. Since the second half of the 19th century, Blitum species were grouped into genus Chenopodium and treated as a subgenus, Chenopodium subgenus Blitum. Phylogenetic research revealed, that these species, as well as species of Monolepis and Scleroblitum, are more closely related to Spinacia, and do not really belong to Chenopodium. Therefore Fuentes-Bazan et al. (2012) separated them as own genus Blitum. Together with Spinacia, the genus Blitum was grouped into tribe Anserineae (Syn. Spinacieae).

According to Fuentes-Bazan (2012), Blitum consists of 12 species:

References

  1. ↑ Species Plantarum at BHL
  2. ↑ Blitum asiaticum at GRIN
  3. ↑ Blitum atriplicinum at GRIN
  4. ↑ Blitum bonus-henricus at GRIN
  5. ↑ Blitum californicum at GRIN
  6. ↑ Blitum capitatum at GRIN
  7. ↑ Blitum hastatum at GRIN
  8. ↑ Blitum korshinskyi at GRIN
  9. ↑ Blitum litwinowii at GRIN
  10. ↑ Blitum nuttallianum at GRIN
  11. ↑ Blitum petiolare at GRIN
  12. ↑ Blitum spathulatum at GRIN
  13. ↑ Blitum virgatum at GRIN
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