Good King Henry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus) has nothing to
do with any King Henry, good or otherwise. It is a wild-growing plant that came
to Great Britain from Germany, where it is known as Guter Heinrich. It was the
Brits who introduced the King! As for Heinrich, he was nobody special either -
the reference is probably to an elf-like creature from folklore.
Good King Henry is found throughout Britain on ground that
is nitrogen-rich, including farmland, grassland and roadside verges. It is one
of the 15 varieties of goosefoot that grow in Great Britain, but is the only
one that is a perennial. It is also alone in having broad arrowhead-shaped
leaves, which can be eaten as a green vegetable when boiled.
Good King Henry grows to between 12 and 20 inches (30-50
centimetres) high. The stems, which are hollow, grow upright and bear leaves
and flower spikes (from May to August). The flowers have four or five greenish
segments that resemble petals within which the seed capsule forms.
© John Welford
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