Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: South America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Rare

About

Quinoa is a flowering pseudocereal native to the high Andes of South America, cultivated for its edible seeds for over 7,000 years. Unlike true cereals it belongs to the amaranth family, and its seeds are one of the rare plant-based complete proteins — containing all nine essential amino acids.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Chenopodium
Species: Chenopodium quinoa