The species was named after Jean-Louis Berlandier, an early nineteenth century French botanist who made many plant collections from northern Mexico and Texas (Wikipedia contributors). It was named after him in 1840 by Alfred Moquin-Tandon, another French botanist of the same time period.
There are four existing populations that are restricted to the small area of Fishers Island in Long Island Sound but the number of plants is presently unknown. There are 19 additional collections from the New York City and Long Island area known from the late 1800s and early 1900s that have not been resurveyed. Those from western Long Island and around New York City are probably extirpated.
Short-term trend is unknown because the populations found in 1990 have not been resurveyed.
Even though many old records have not been rechecked those from the Western Long Island and New York City areas are probably extirpated.
Existing populations are not protected and may be under threat by users of the site. It is unknown if these saltmarshes are threatened by Phragmites.
Control Phragmites invasions in the salt marshes where it exists and prevent new incursions. Natural buffers should be established around the salt marshes to decrease pollution runoff and other direct human disturbances.
Research is needed to compare the habitat characteristics of existing populations to the habitat of old records to see if similar conditions exist where plants could be found. We would like to know if plants are primarily found in natural conditions or in weedy areas.
In New York Large Calyx Goosefoot has been most often found on rocky ocean beaches, and occasionally on adjacent pond shores, salt marshes and shrub thickets (New York Natural Heritage Program 2010). Coastal sands, beaches (FNA 2003).
The species was historically found in all counties on Long Island, Staten Island, and north to the Bronx. It is currently known only on Fishers Island in Suffolk County.
This herb is most common in eastern states from South Carolina north to New York and Massachusetts. There are disjunct populations in Indiana and Nova Scotia while it is considered exotic in New Brunswick.
Large Calyx Goosefoot is an annual, erect herb usually less than 50 cm tall. The leaves are lance-shaped and 1 to 6 cm long, the lower halves with a few teeth or lobes. The infloresence is an erect spike with leafy bracts and many small greenish (turning reddish) flowers. The seeds are 1.3 to1.9 mm in diameter, brown or black, and with pitted surfaces.
Specimens with fruit are best for identification.
Chenopodium album is similar to C. berlandieri, but it seeds have a smooth surface and are not pitted/roughened like that of C. berlandieri. Two other varieties of C. berlandieri are found in New York; the more widespread and common C. berlandieri var. bushianum differs by having a drooping infloresence, and the rare (and not known from New York beaches) C. berlandieri boscianum has pericarps with a light yellow area around the style and seeds 1 to 1.3 mm in diameter (C. berlandieri var. macrocalycium has black pericarps and seeds 1.3 to 1.9 mm) (FNA 2003, Gleason and Cronquist 1991).
Large Calyx Goosefoot flowers in July and August and the fruits, needed for identification, mature in September.
The time of year you would expect to find Large-calyxed Goosefoot flowering and fruiting in New York.
Large-calyxed Goosefoot
Chenopodium berlandieri var. macrocalycium (Aellen) Cronq.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 2003. Flora of North America North of Mexico, Volume 4, Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, Part 1. Oxford University Press, New York.
Clemants, Steven E. 1992. Chenopodiaceae and Amaranthaceae of New York State. Bulletin No. 485. New York State Museum. Albany, NY.
Fernald, M. L. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. 8th edition. Corrected printing (1970). D. Van Nostrand Company, New York. 1632 pp.
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.
Holmgren, Noel. 1998. The Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist's Manual. Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
Mitchell, Richard S. and Gordon C. Tucker. 1997. Revised Checklist of New York State Plants. Contributions to a Flora of New York State. Checklist IV. Bulletin No. 490. New York State Museum. Albany, NY. 400 pp.
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2010. Biotics database. New York Natural Heritage Program. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Albany, NY.
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2023. New York Natural Heritage Program Databases. Albany, NY.
Weldy, T. and D. Werier. 2010. New York flora atlas. [S.M. Landry, K.N. Campbell, and L.D. Mabe (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research http://www.fccdr.usf.edu/. University of South Florida http://www.usf.edu/]. New York Flora Association http://newyork.plantatlas.usf.edu/, Albany, New York
This guide was authored by: Stephen M. Young
Information for this guide was last updated on: September 20, 2012
Please cite this page as:
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2023.
Online Conservation Guide for
Chenopodium berlandieri var. macrocalycium.
Available from: https://guides.nynhp.org/large-calyx-goosefoot/.
Accessed May 29, 2023.