Chenopodium ambrosioides L.   Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)   Tropical America   Mexican-Tea   Epazote

                                              July Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Annual or perennial, erect or ascending, coarse, strong-scented, the stems 4-10 dm. long, simple or branched, smoothish; lvs. short-petioled, oblong or lanceolate, subentire to repand-toothed, 2-10 cm. long, gradually reduced upward; infl. a slender pyramidal panicle of densely-fld. spikes, elongate, leafy or intermixed with lvs.; calyx ca. 1 mm. long, gland-dotted, enclosing the fr.;  pericarp very thin, deciduous, gland-dotted; seed horizontal or vertical, ca. 0.7 mm. broad.

Habitat:  Weed in waste, especially damp places, particularly in s. Calif., but widespread on Pacific Coast and to New England.  June-Oct.

Name:  Chenopodium is from two Greek words chen and pous,  meaning "goose" and "foot" which refers to the shape of the leaves in some species.  Ambrosioides means "like the genus Ambrosia.  (Dale 96).

General:  Occasional in the study area.  Photographed on the North Star Flats and along Back Bay Dr. at the northerly end of Eastbluff.  (my comments).      The plant is poisonous and the glossy black seed used as a worming agent would be the only safe home use.  As a poison it has a narcotic affect on the brain, spinal cord and stomach.  (Coon 103).      With adequate water this plant will grow to over eight feet high with lengthy side branches.  (my observation).      A tea made from the leaves has been used for tonic, kidney ills, colds, stomach, etc.  (Bauer 158).     Chenopodium ambrosioides var. anthelminticum, is recognized today for its vermifuge properties.  It has a disagreeable odor, but the volatile oil distilled from the ripe fruit or entire plant is considered valuable enough for commercial cultivation in central Maryland.  (Fielder 28).      C. ambrosioides has been known to accumulate free nitrates in quantities capable of causing death or distress in cattle.  (Fuller 385).        Perennial plants have been called var. suffruticosum.  (Hickman, Ed. 508).       All parts of the plant are effective externally for fungal infections, barber's itch, athlete's foot and ringworm, as well as being somewhat antibacterial.  The leaves and seeds are a classic Mexican bean spice.  It is called for in many traditional recipes, both to reduce the flatus levels and to jazz up the taste.  (Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West 55).

Text Ref:  Hickman, Ed. 508; Munz, Calif. Flora 369; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 360.

Photo Ref:  June 7 83 # 5; Sept 2 83 # 19,20.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.  

First Found:  June 1983.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 223.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 3/3/05.

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