Scientific Family
Chenopodiaceae
Synonyms
Ambrina ambrosioides, Atriplex ambrosioides, Chenopodium ambrosioides, C. obovatum, C. retusum, Teloxys ambrosioides, T. vagans
Other common names
Jesuit's tea
payqu
epazote
mastruz
wormseed
herba sancta Maria
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Introduced
Lifecycle
Annual
Height
To almost 5 feet
Riparian
Yes
Annual (in warmer zones may be a short-lived perennial); grows upright, many small side branches; round stems, mixture of green, reddish with light brown veins; small green flowers grow singly or in dense head-like clusters on long, slender spikes.
Leaf blades rounded to lance-like, margins smooth, toothed or irregularly lobed, usually highly gland-dotted, not hairy; flower clusters leafy; flowers without petals, solitary or in few-flowered head-like clusters along stems; seeds mostly horizontal.
Habitat
Found in the gravelly and sandy soils of cultivated fields, vacant lots, waste places, river bottoms, dry lake beds, roadsides and stream-sides. Sometimes found as an invasive weed in flower beds.
Plant Community
Riparian
Disturbed Areas
Low elevation
0
High elevation
4600
Flower Characteristics
The upper stems and side stems terminate in spikes (up to 1 foot long) of stalkless flowers. The small flowers are often in dense ball-like clusters (glomerules) along these spikes. Each 1/4 inch wide flower has 5 green leaf-like sepals and no petals.
Flower color
Green
Flower shape
Inconspicuous
Tubular
No
First bloom month
July
Last bloom month
September
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves up to 4 inches long, 1-1/2 inches wide. Leaf bases are always wedge-shaped but the margins vary even on the same plant from smooth to lobed to toothed. Stems and leaves dotted with numerous oil-secreting glands giving off a strong bitter scent.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green, yellow-green, red-green
Leaf shape
Round or oval
Leaf margin
Other
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Egg-shaped, 1-seeded, thin-walled fruit is enclosed within 5 small oval leaf-like sepals that curve inward and are persistent (remain attached). Lack of white-spotting (white-mealy) and absence of hair on the sepals are helpful identifying features.
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit color
Green
Seeds are usually horizontal, at times vertical, reddish-brown to very dark brown (almost black), shiny, to 1/16 inch wide, may be egg-shaped to rounded with a wrinkled to smooth surface and no margins.