Mealy Goosefoot
Chenopodium incanum
Photographed along Camp Creek, n.e. Maricopa Co., Arizona. May 2008.
ANNUAL: Relatively robust late spring to summer annual with most plants
one to two meters tall. Often branching below. Stems may have sections of beet-red coloration.
LEAVES: Leaves are triangular, sometimes with two lobes near base.
Undersides are whitish and have a mealy texture due to coating of fine,
granular, modified hairs.
RANGE: In the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico this plant is most
likely to be found in riparian situations.
FRUIT: Small, single-seeded achenes.
FLOWERS: Green and appearing whitish due to abundance of powdery meal.
UNARMED. No spines.