Chenopodium nutans
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Einadia nutans.jpg
|genus = Chenopodium
|species = nutans
|authority = (R.Br.) S.Fuentes & Borsch
|synonyms =
- Einadia nutans (R.Br.) A. J. Scott
- Rhagodia nutans R.Br.
}}
Chenopodium nutans (Syn Einadia nutans, Rhagodia nutans), known by its common name of climbing saltbush or nodding saltbush, is a climbing groundcover native to Australia.
Plants form a blanket on the surface, climbing over logs and up trees to a height of around 1 metre. Each plant grows to around one metre in diameter. The small leaves are semi-succulent, and have a distinctive arrowhead shape. They grow along long, vine-like branches spreading out form the centre of the plant. Both the leaves and the branches are of a light green colour.{{cite web|url=http://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au:80/record=b1658722~S1R| title=Plants of the Adelaide plains and hills| publisher=Library of South Australia| accessdate=21 March 2011}}
Flowers are inconspicuous green balls, which form on top of terminal spikes during summer. These transform into very conspicuous, tiny, bright-red berries during early autumn.
Human uses
The plant was boiled along with other species of saltbush for use as a greens substitute by early European settlers in the Adelaide region.{{cite web| url=http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm| title=The Native Plants of Adelaide| publisher=Department for Environment and Heritage| accessdate=21 March 2011| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315113933/http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm| archivedate=15 March 2011}} The plant is easily propagated, making it a particularly attractive and useful plant for revegetation projects. It has recently been enjoying increasing popularity as a garden plant, for its low maintenance, low water usage properties.{{cite web| url=http://www.burnside.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Local_Plants_Conserved_in_a_Municipal_Garden.pdf| title=LOCAL PLANTS CONSERVED IN A MUNICIPAL GARDEN| publisher=Burnside City Council| accessdate=18 April 2011| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423012500/http://www.burnside.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Local_Plants_Conserved_in_a_Municipal_Garden.pdf| archivedate=23 April 2011}}
References
{{Commons category|Chenopodium nutans}}
{{Wikispecies|Chenopodium nutans}}
Susy Fuentes-Bazan, Guilhem Mansion, Thomas Borsch: Towards a species level tree of the globally diverse genus Chenopodium (Chenopodiaceae). In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Vol. 62, No. 1, 2012, {{ISSN|1055-7903}}, p. 372, DOI:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.006
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5349607}}