280 days of Urbpandemonium #54

[urbpan]

Lamb's quarters Chenopodium album* is a very common North American weed, and a close relative of spinach and quinoa. It is prized by the foraging community as an abundant and nutrient-dense green, found in suburban yards as well as urban sidewalk cracks.

The shape of the leaf and the tiny white-green flowers help identify it, but those red dots are the dead giveaway. Those are left by the nymphs of the Chenopodium leafhopper Norvellina chenopodii,** a small attractive insect that pierces the leaf with a tiny beak, sucking the juices of lamb's quarters.

* Chenopodium album literally means "little white goose foot."

** I couldn't find any reason for the name "Norvellina." It was probably named in honor of someone named Norvell. "Chenopodii" refers to the insect's host plant.