Dysphania atriplicifolia (
synonymCycloloma atriplicifolium) is species of
flowering plant known by the
common nameswinged pigweed, tumble ringwing, plains tumbleweed,[2] and tumble-weed.[3] This plant is native to central North America, but it is spreading and has been occasionally reported in far-flung areas from
California to
Maine to the Canadian prairie. It is considered an
introduced species outside of central North America. This is a bushy annual herb forming a rounded pale green clump which may exceed 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) in height. It is very intricately branched, with toothed leaves occurring near the base. The spreading stems bear widely spaced flowers are small immature fruits fringed with a nearly transparent membranous wing. In autumn, the plant forms a
tumbleweed.[4] The fruit is a
utricle about 2 millimeters long containing a single seed.
Uses
The seeds are eaten as a food staple by
Native American peoples including the
Zuni and
Hopi. The Zuni people mix the seeds with ground corn to make a mush.[5] The Zuni also grind the seeds, mix them with corn meal and make them into steamed cakes.[6] The Zuni also chew the blossoms and rub them all over the hands for protection.[7]
^Louis Hermann Pammel (1903).
Some Weeds of Iowa. Experiment Station, Iowa State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. page 455
^Castetter, Edward Franklin (1935),
"Uncultivated native plants used as sources of food", University of New Mexico Biological Series (University of New Mexico Bulletin, Whole No. 266, Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest), 4 (1): 22
^Stevenson, Matilda Coxe (1915). "Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians".
SI-BAE Annual Report #30. Bureau of American Ethnology. p. 67.
Cycloloma atriplicifolium - Online, In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Hrsg.): Flora of North America North of Mexico, Volume 4: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 1., Oxford University Press, New York,
ISBN0-19-517389-9, p. 265.