An annual herb, Chenopodium quinoa (family Chenopodiaceae), 4–6 ft (1.2–1.8 m) tall, a native of Peru, and the staple food of many people in South America. These plants, grown at high altitudes, produce large quantities of highly nutritious seeds used whole in soups or ground into flour, which is made into bread or cakes. The seeds are also used as poultry feed, in medicine, and in making beer. The ash is mixed with coca leaves to flavor them as a masticatory. In the United States the leaves are sometimes used as a substitute for spinach.