菱叶藜 ling ye li

Chenopodium koraiense Nakai.

Herbs annual, 50-80 cm tall. Stem erect, much branched above, terete below, green striate and slightly obtusely ribbed above; branches obliquely spreading, slender. Petiole slender; leaf blade of lower and middle leaves ovate-triangular to ovate-rhombic, usually 3-4 × 2-3 cm, 2-3 × as long as petiole, slightly farinose abaxially, not farinose adaxially, base broadly cuneate, margin distinctly 3-lobed, apex acute; middle lobe triangular, lateral lobes near base, usually 2-toothed; upper leaves smaller, leaf blade subhastate. Glomerules borne on upper branches, arranged into slender, spikelike panicles. Flowers bisexual. Perianth segments 5, slightly spreading in fruit, ovate, abaxially keeled, farinose. Pericarp dark brown, adnate to seed. Seed horizontal, black, very slightly lustrous, lenticular, 1.3-1.5 mm in diam., distinctly radially lineate. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep.

Forest margins, meadows. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning [Japan, Korea, Russia (Far East, SE Siberia)].

The name Chenopodium atripliciforme Murr (sometimes incorrectly cited as “atriplicifolium”) has often been treated as a synonym of C. bryoniifolium, or misidentified as C. opulifolium Schrader ex Candolle. However, C. atripliciforme is a separate species reported from NE Afghanistan, N India, and N Pakistan. Judging from several herbarium specimens available, it probably also occurs in the mountains of SC Asia. It may also be expected to occur in W China.