Stems erect to prostrate, branched from base, 0.5-2.5(-4) dm, farinose. Leaves nonaromatic; petiole to 1 cm; blade lanceolate to oblong or ovate, 0.5-4 × 0.3-1.5 cm, base cuneate, margins undulate-dentate, teeth obtuse or acute, apex obtuse or acute, densely farinose, glaucous abaxially. Inflorescences glomerules in terminal or lateral spikes, 5-10 cm; glomerules subglobose, 1.8-2.5 mm diam.; bracts leaflike in inflorescence, elliptic, 0.2-1 × 0.1-0.5 cm, or absent at least in terminal 1/2 of inflorescence. Flowers: perianth segments 3-4; lobes obovate to oblong, 0.5-0.7 × 0.4-0.5 mm, apex obtuse, rounded, not keeled, covering fruit at maturity; stamen 1; stigmas 2. Utricles ovoid; pericarp nonadherent, smooth. Seeds mostly horizontal, some vertical, margins rounded; vertical seeds ovoid to round, 0.6-1.1 mm diam.; horizontal seeds round, 0.6-1.1 mm diam.; seed coat reddish brown, rugose-punctate. 2n = 18. Several entities (segregate species, subspecies, varieties, and forms) have been described within the Chenopodium glaucum group. Most of the taxa represent morphological traits of individual or ecological variability and have little or no taxonomic importance. However, several entities are well delimited geographically. The native North American taxon is recognized here as a separate variety.
Annual, usually branched from the base, prostrate to erect, 1-4 dm; lvs lanceolate to oblong or ovate, 1-4 cm, cuneate at base, entire or merely undulate, or with 2-4 low teeth per side, densely white-mealy beneath, especially when young; fls in small glomerules aggregated into usually interrupted spiciform clusters equaling or shorter than the lvs, or also in a short terminal panicle; sep mostly 3(4); seeds dark brown, shining, lenticular, 0.6-1 mm wide, loose in the pericarp, those of the lateral fls of the cymules erect, that of the terminal fl in the cymule horizontal; 2n=28. Native of Europe, occasionally found as a weed in our range, especially northward. (C. salinum)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.