Over’s Goosefoot: A Lesser-Known Native Annual Worth Knowing About
If you’re passionate about native plants, you might have stumbled across the name Over’s goosefoot in your botanical wanderings. This intriguing little annual, scientifically known as Chenopodium overi, belongs to the diverse goosefoot family and represents one of North America’s quieter native treasures.
What Exactly is Over’s Goosefoot?
Over’s goosefoot is a native annual forb—basically a non-woody plant that completes its entire life cycle in a single growing season. As a forb, it lacks the significant woody tissue you’d find in shrubs or trees, instead producing soft, herbaceous growth that emerges fresh each year from seed.
This species also goes by the synonym Blitum hastatum, though you’re most likely to encounter it listed as Chenopodium overi in botanical references and native plant databases.
Where Does Over’s Goosefoot Call Home?
As a true native of the lower 48 states, Over’s goosefoot has established itself across a impressive swath of western and some midwestern territories. You’ll find this species naturally occurring in:
- California
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Michigan
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Oregon
- Utah
- Wyoming
The Mystery Plant Challenge
Here’s where things get interesting (and a bit frustrating for curious gardeners): Over’s goosefoot is one of those native species that hasn’t made its way into mainstream horticulture. Information about its specific growing requirements, appearance, and garden performance is surprisingly scarce in traditional gardening resources.
This lack of cultivation information could mean a few things. It might be naturally rare, challenging to grow, or simply overlooked by the gardening world in favor of showier native alternatives. Without clear data on its conservation status, it’s wise to approach this species with some caution.
Should You Try Growing Over’s Goosefoot?
Given the limited information available, Over’s goosefoot isn’t the best choice for beginning native plant gardeners or those looking for well-documented species with known garden performance. However, if you’re an experienced native plant enthusiast intrigued by rare or uncommon species, here’s what to consider:
Proceed with care: If you do find seeds or plants available, make absolutely certain they’re from responsible, ethical sources that don’t impact wild populations. Never collect from the wild without proper permits and ecological consideration.
Consider alternatives: If you’re drawn to the goosefoot family, consider better-documented native Chenopodium species that might offer similar ecological benefits with more reliable growing information.
The Bottom Line
Over’s goosefoot represents the fascinating diversity of North America’s native flora—those quiet species that play important ecological roles even if they haven’t earned spots in our garden catalogs. While it might not be the right choice for most home gardens due to limited growing information, it serves as a reminder of how much we still have to learn about our native plant communities.
For most gardeners interested in supporting native ecosystems, focusing on well-documented native species with known benefits to pollinators and wildlife will provide more reliable results and greater ecological impact. But for the truly adventurous botanically-minded gardener? Over’s goosefoot remains an intriguing puzzle waiting to be better understood.
