12. Chenopodium strictum Roth, Nov. Pl. Sp. 180. 1821; Iljin & Aellen in Kom., Fl. URSS 6: 64. 1936; Aellen in Hegi, Ill. Fl. Mitteleur. 3/2, Lief. 3: 447 1960; Kung & Chu in Kung & Tsien, Fl. Reip. Pop. Sin. 25(2): 96. 1979; Uotila in Rech. f., Fl. Iran. 172: 47. 1997.
Chenopodium album L. subsp. striatum (Krašan) Murr in Urban & Graebner, Festschr. Ascherson: 222. 1904.
Annual to 2 m tall, stems erect, green-striped, sometimes red especially in axils, branched mostly basally, lowermost branches long, ascending from an almost horizontal base. Leaf blade dark olive green to glaucous green above, glaucous green below, sometimes red-rimmed, ca. 2 x length of petiole, (1.5-)2-5 x (0.6-)1-2.5 cm, ovate to elliptic, somewhat attenuate towards apex, margins often almost parallel in middle part; margins ± regularly toothed, teeth small, sometimes with a pair of somewhat larger teeth at broadest part of blade, or sometimes margins entire; apex rounded. Blade of upper leaves (rarely all leaves) narrowly trullate to narrowly elliptic, margin entire. Flowers concentrated in small glomerules mostly arranged in terminal and usually spiciform branched inflorescence. Perianth lobes olive green, united at base, keel not prominent. Fruits mostly falling with perianth. Pericarp easily detached. Seeds horizontal, black, lustrous, 0.9-1.1(-1.2) mm in diameter, ovate; testa almost smooth to sometimes with faint radial striae.
Fl. & Fr. Per.: June-October.
Type: ‘Innominatum erat in Collectione spectatissima, qua me ditavit Clariss. Heyne ex India orientali’.
Fields, gardens, ruderal places, roadsides, rocky places. 500-2900 m; Distribution: SE Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, C Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India.
The colour, leaf shape, densely spicate inflorescence and small, ovate seeds are typical for C. strictum and differentiate it from C. album. However, young plants may be difficult to determine. C. strictum in our area is often only several tens of cm tall and a fairly slender plant with spreading branches along the stem and narrow, entire leaves. Such plants are somewhat similar to C. strictum subsp. striatiforme (Murr) Uotila from Europe. Possibly they reflect taxonomic heterogeneity of C. strictum in our area. They cause difficulties even in delimitation of C. strictum and C. novopokrovskyanum.
