Family - Chenopodiaceae

Stems - No info yet.

Leaves - No info yet.

Inflorescence - No info yet.

Flowers - No info yet.

Flowers, close-up.

Fruits, close-up.

Flowering - June - October.

Habitat - Shaded ledges of bluffs, base of slopes, waste places, disturbed sites.

Origin - Native to U.S.

Other info. - This large and easily identified species can be found throughout much of Missouri but is apparently absent from the southeast corner of the state. The plant can be identified by its rounded to cordate leaf bases, acuminate leaf tips, coarsely dentate leaf margins, and big, flattened fruits. The covering of the fruit (the pericarp) removes easily from the seed when rubbed or scraped. Other similar species have a pericarp that is very hard to remove. The seeds of these other species are smaller than those of C. simplex.
C. simplex also has a large, essentially leafless inflorescence.
A synonym for this species is C. gigantospermum L.
In recent years several species have been lumped together as C. simplex

Photographs taken off Missouri Bottom Rd. near the St. Louis Airport, MO., 8-7-05.