ABSTRACT
When Linnaeus named Chenopodium in 1753, he knew 22 species; 19 were from Europe and nearby Asia. From the Americas he knew C. ambrosioides, C. anthelminticum, and C. virginicum. In adopting the genus he continued a name that had been given by Swiss herbalist Gaspar Bauhin in 1623, and much earlier by Pliny in southern Europe. Today the genus contains ~100 species (Mabberley 1997).
