- Chenopodiaceae
Key to the genera of Chenopodiaceae
1Plant apparently leafless or leaves reduced to opposite, fleshy lobes at regular intervals along fleshy, jointed stems2 1Plant obviously leafy; leaves opposite or alternate; stems not jointed and fleshy3 2Flowers in cymules of 3; perianth lacking an upper lobe; stamen 1Tecticornia → 2Flowers in cymules of 5–13 (or false whorls of 10–26) between bracts of inflorescence; perianth with an upper lobe overlapping the 2 lateral lobes; stamens 2Salicornia → 3Leaves with flat blades, usually petiolate; fruit not developing prominent spines; plant often mealy-pubescent or glandular4 3Leaves narrow, often terete or subterete, usually apparently sessile; fruit sometimes developing spines; plant neither mealy-pubescent nor glandular16 4Plant glabrous; ovary semi-inferior; fruiting perianths woody or corky toward base, adhering together by the swollen receptacleBeta > Beta vulgaris → 4Plant usually mealy, at least when young; ovary superior; fruiting perianths sometimes clustered but not adhering together6 6Flowers always unisexual; males with 5-lobed perianth and 5 stamens; females lacking perianth but enclosed by a pair of free to almost entirely fused bracteoles which enlarge in fruit, often becoming spongy, corky and/or with dorsal outgrowthsAtriplex → 6Flowers bisexual or unisexual; all with a perianth and never enclosed by paired bracteoles7 7Fruit a succulent berry8 8Plants shrubby; flowers unisexual; the male flowers with 5 stamensRhagodia → 8Plant wiry and spreading or ascending and softly woody; flowers bisexual or female; bisexual flowers with 1–5 stamens9 9Flowers with 5 stamens; fruiting perianth enlarged, yellow to dark reddish on inner faceChenopodium → 9Flowers with 1–3 stamens; fruiting perianth not enlarged or coloured (the pericarp may be brightly coloured)Einadia → 10Plant without a basal rosette, or if leaves apparently rosetted then fruiting perianth not as above12 12Fruiting perianth unwinged14 14Plants aromatic, with glandular hairsDysphania → 15Tepals 3–5; seed horizontal to vertical; annuals or soft-wooded shrubby perennialsChenopodium → 15Tepals 5; seed horizontal; perennial herbs or slender, wiry subshrubsEinadia → 16Flowers and fruits fused in axillary clusters of 2 or moreDissocarpus → 16Flowers and fruits solitary in axils, or if ever paired or clustered then remaining free17 17Fruiting perianth dry, or if succulent, thinly so and remaining green, not slit down the side19 19Fruiting perianth winged or with prominent spines, ridges or tubercles20 19Fruiting perianth lacking wings, spines or prominent tubercles34 20Fruiting perianth winged (narrowly so in Sclerochlamys)21 20Fruiting perianth unwinged, but with spines, cylindrical lobes, or tubercles27 21Leaves spine-tipped; each flower subtended by a pair of conspicuous, leaf-like bracteoles; annualSalsola > Salsola tragus → 21Leaves not spine-tipped; flowers ebracteolate or with minute scale-like bracteoles; annuals or perennials23 23Annual; tepals of fruiting perianth with horizontal wings and a short, hooked spine attached near the middle; uncommon weed of north-westBassia > Bassia hyssopifolia 23Perennials; fruiting perianth lacking spines25 25Fruiting perianth lenticular to turbinate or globose, not obviously pentagonal at summit, with 5 horizontal wings or these fused forming a single annular ringMaireana → 27Fruiting perianth with appendages in a single series29 29Fruiting perianth hard, cup-shaped to subglobular with c. 11 short spines radiating from the truncate apexSclerolaena → 29Fruiting perianth with 1–6 spines or blunt lobes30 30Fruiting perianth tubular to subglobose, with 1–6 hard spines32 32Fruiting perianth shape various, woody, with 1–6 spines arising between perianth lobesSclerolaena → 34Fruit woody; flowers not subtended by bracteoles35 34Fruit not woody; flowers subtended by a pair of bracteolesSuaeda → 35Flowering perianth 5-lobed; fruiting perianth dry, subglobular; inlandOsteocarpum → Modified from: Walsh, N.G. (1996). Chenopodiaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J. (eds), Flora of Victoria. Vol. 3. Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
