Herbs annual, 20-50 cm tall. Stem erect, green striate, ribbed. Leaf blade ovate-oblong, 2.5-5 × 1-3.5 cm, margin usually 3-lobed; central lobe margins almost parallel, subentire to sinuate-dentate, apex obtuse or subacute, mucronate; lateral lobes positioned in proximal 1/3 or near base of leaf blade, margin entire or shallowly dentate. Flowers bisexual, several per glomerule, these arranged in spreading, terminal panicles on upper branches. Perianth subglobose, 5-parted; segments valvate in bud, remaining closed at anthesis, broadly ovate, abaxially longitudinally keeled, densely farinose. Stamens 5, exserted at anthesis. Stigmas 2, filiform. Utricle included in perianth, falling together with it from plant; pericarp adnate to seed. Seed horizontal, black, sublustrous, ca. 1 mm in diam., distinctly hexagonally pitted, rim margin subobtuse; embryo annular. Fl. Apr-May.

Chenopodium ficifolium is represented in China by two subspecies: subsp. ficifolium and subsp. blomianum (Aellen) Aellen (Hegi, Ill. Fl. Mitt.-Eur., ed. 2, 3(2): 624. 1960; C. blomianum Aellen, Bot. Not. 1928: 203. 1928). The latter differs from the typical subspecies in having leaf blades with an often shorter middle lobe and less prominent lateral lobes, and seeds with shallower and less evident pits and a sinuous rim margin. It is distributed from Iraq to S and SE Asia. However, the typical subspecies also occurs within the range of subsp. blomianum. Both subspecies are variable, and several varieties have been described.

Chenopodium ficifolium occasionally hybridizes with other species of C. sect. Chenopodium.

The name Chenopodium serotinum Linnaeus has often been misapplied to this species but in fact refers to a species of Atriplex.

Common weed of waste places, garbage dumps, roadsides, etc. Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Asia, Europe; naturalized in North America and some other regions of the world].