Seasonal Wild Flowers

Fat-hen

Latin name

Chenopodium album agg.

C.album agg. refers to 8 species of which C. album is the

most common.

Family

Amaranthaceae

Flowering season

June to October

English distribution

It is found throughout the country.

See the BSBI distribution map for Fat-hen

Habitat

It grows in disturbed, nutrient-rich soils such as arable

fields and gardens, waste ground and rubbish tips.

Description

Fat-hen is an annual, variably mealy native herb, growing

up to 1.5m.

It is the commonest UK goosefoot.

Flowers are in spikes.

Each flower is small made up of 5 triangular partly

fused tepals (green perianth segments), 5 stamens and

2 styles with linear stigmas.

The ovule is spherical and basal.

Upper leaves are oval to lanceolate and variously mealy.

Lower leaves are diamond shaped and variously lobed

and toothed.

They are also variously mealy and the plants stand out

from other vegetation because of their greyish appearance.

Stems are ridged or angled and vary from green to purple.

One of my jobs, while working on a farm in Suffolk in

1960, was to pull out Fat-hen growing as a weed in fields

of Sugar Beet (also Amaranthaceae).

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Fat Hen at the edge of a wheat field

Fat Hen flowering spikes

Flowering spike

Close-up of flower buds- 5 green tepals

Side view of stalked flower bud - partly fused tepals

5-merous flowers

Close-up of flowers showing stamens

Side view of flower - 5 stamens,

2 stigmas, spherical ovary

Close-up of flower - developing

ovule (fruit)

Greyish upper and leaves

Close-up of lanceolate entire upper leaf

Diamond shaped, toothed, lower leaves

Lower leaf, angled stem with red markings

Mealy lower leaf

Fat Hen with red-stems