We also have the amaranth weeds, Oh so many of them, but this is not that. Much more like lambsquarters because the leaves are the same and the only difference is the nice much bigger heads.
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There are a lot of minor/uncommon chenopodium species around the world. My first guess is it might be one of them.
The wild species like C. album tend to be diploids, while quinoa is a tetraploid, so a simple cross shouldnt produce a fertile hybrid to begin (unless you could get it to double its chromosomes again from triploid to hexaploid- not impossible but not likely either). It could also be a wild population of C. berlandieri (which is also a tetraploid and believed to be the ancestor of quinoa and huauzontle).
Are there any facebook groups for your area that specialise in plant species identification? That would be my next step to figure out what it might be.
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Yay! So happy to hear this project is moving forward. I am desperate to get some diverse quinoa genetics to start working with. I have a big crop of huauzontle flowering at the moment and I have been observing how it flowers. I only have a little wild C. album flowering at the same time and the mismatch in ploidy levels is putting me off spending time squinting at tiny flowers to try hand pollination just yet (plus they are growing in the ground which makes getting into the right position to work on them a huge pain).
4 posts were split to a new topic: Amaranth
I just harvested my quinoa; around twenty plants of different varieties. Quite a lot of the seed I planted failed to come up or died off, and some of the heads seemed rather empty. Still, I harvested more seed than I planted, and will be able to plant a larger plot next year. Has anyone else harvested their quinoa? I’m experimenting with different ways of separating the seeds from all the fluff.
Also, I received the quinoa that Going to Seed purchased from Wild Garden Seed. Once other contributions come in, I will be packaging things up for the members!
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Wonderful to hear. Sorry I havent transferred my contribution yet. Will you be letting us know what to donate to receive our own mixed/diverse quinoa seed soon?
I have a big stand of huauzontle doing very well as a short cycle winter grain here. Very enthusiastic about outcrossing it with quinoa next winter (Jun-July here in Australia) and hopeful I can share this hybridised seed back with the group.
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That’s all awesome!! 
No crop second year running, planting a whole lot of seed each year. It’s been so impressively unsuccessful I’m not even sure I would recognize a quinoa plant. I’ll need to examine my methods and find out where it makes the most sense to diversify and tweak things for next season. Lambsquarters holds a vibrant weedy presence here and we love quinoa (maybe the critters do too) so we’re not ready to give up on it just yet.
Ive heard commercial quinoa growers complain that it simply refuses to germinate some years and they have no idea why.
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Here is my huauzontle crop. I managed to get a single C. album growing among them, so I will grow its seed out separately to see if any spontaneous crossing happened. Not likely since the ploidy level is probably different (and C. album is a pain to grow since its germination is unpredictable).
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@ShaneS Those Huazuantle are beautiful. Look like Orach, can you take a closeup of the flower structure?
I visited my (maybe) Quinoa X lambsquarters friends today
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Ill get my macro lens out soon. Chenopodium flowers are teeny tiny- bracing for the challenge of hand crossing when I get enough genetics to work with. This crop might be done with the fertile stage already. Next thing is to try eating immature huauzontle buds in the traditional mexican way (though it is always a puzzle harvesting and cooking a new ingredient when you have no idea what the finished product is meant to taste like).
That putative quinoa x lambs quarters hybrid looks very interesting.
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update on my quinoa ; I finished harvesting recently, now have some 30 plants drying of three or four varieties. I started my harvest quite early, cutting any head that seemed mature , in the fear of some accident. But in the end, I waited until most of the plant was mature to pick it as a whole. For whatever reason / miracle, the seeds don"t seem to have germinated despite some serious rain at the end of the cycle.
The one that did best is the one I grew last year on this soil. (of course)
How do I place and order / pay a contribution to get some of the collective mix for next year , please ?
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Hi @ShaneS and @isabelle , I will be in touch with Anna about logistics and get back to you.
Great to see all the participation!
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Keen to contribute my funds to support the project. Geared up to do a big hand cross and variety trial next winter.
I talked to Anna. Once all quinoa contributions have come in, I will send you packets directly (as opposed to going through Seed to Seed.) You will have to take care of all legalities on your end if there is a problem with customs.
As far as returning seed to me, we will have to figure that out; I want to make sure I’m following all relevant regulations (even though they can seem a little pointless at times.)
I will let you know when I’m ready to ship, and PM you for addresses.
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That is wonderful news. I’ve had a big huauzontle crop this year, so will be all geared up to hand cross it with diverse quinoa next season. That is probably the most straightforward wide cross that will shake up the genetics to a large extent while contributing higher grain quality to the final grex.
I am very glad, too ! waiting for your signal on PM .
I still have a couple of heads to harvest, in an area where some lambsquarters were also well developped…
Hi, just reading thru this thread and can pictures of the mature plant and seed heads be shared?
I think these are the best photos I have. These plants are small because they were growing underneath and in between sorghum.
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I planted huazontle this year for the first time. Would be very interested in a quinoa that can grow in western Illinois zone 6a. This might seem like a petty detail, but i think beauty of the plant is very important. For example, Chenopodium berlandieri grows native here but is treated as a noxious weed. Quinoa looks similar enough that it needs to be pretty in order to not trigger the herbicide paramilitary neighbors. It needs to be flower-pretty to survive the self-appointed Midwestern Plant Police.