Amaranthus cruentus
Amaranthus caudatus
blood amaranth, caterpillar amaranth, purple amaranth, red amaranth
foxtail amaranth, love-lies-bleeding, purple amaranth, quilete
erect, green or reddish purple, branched distally, mostly in inflorescence, to nearly simple, 0.4–2 m. Leaves: petiole 1/2 as long as to ± equaling blade;
blade rhombic-ovate or ovate to broadly lanceolate, 3–15(–20) × 1.5–10(–15) cm, occasionally larger in robust plants, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, margins entire, plane, apex acute or subobtuse to slightly emarginate, with mucro.
erect, usually green, moderately branched, rarely nearly simple, 0.5–1.5(–2.5) m. Leaves: petiole shorter than to equaling blade;
blade rhombic-ovate, ovate, or elliptic to broadly lanceolate, 5–15(–20) × 2–10 cm, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to subobtuse, with mucro.
narrowly spathulate, 2–3 mm, equaling or slightly longer than tepals, apex short-spinescent.
narrowly lanceolate to linear, equaling or subequal to tepals, not exceeding style branches, apex acuminate with excurrent midrib.
terminal and axillary, erect, reflexed, or nodding, usually dark red, purple, or deep beet-red, less commonly almost green or greenish red, leafless at least distally, large and robust.
terminal, drooping or nodding, usually red, purple, or white, less commonly green, silvery green, or yellow, usually much-branched at base, leafless at least distally, very large and robust.
at tips of inflorescences;
tepals 5;
stamens (4–)5.
mostly at tips of inflorescences;
tepals (4–)5;
stamens 5.
tepals 5, oblong to lanceolate, not clawed, equal or subequal, 1.5–3 mm, apex acute;
style branches erect or slightly reflexed;
stigmas 3.
tepals 5, spatulate-obovate or lanceolate-obovate, not clawed, subequal, (1–)1.5–2(–2.5) mm, membranaceous, apex obtuse, slightly emarginate, or subacute with mucro;
style branches spreading or reflexed;
stigmas 3.
usually white or ivory, with reddish or yellowish tint, sometimes dark brown to dark reddish brown, broadly lenticular to elliptic-lenticular, 1.2–1.6 mm diam., smooth or indistinctly punctate.
dark brown to brownish black or reddish brown, yellowish white, or ivory, lenticular to subglobose, 1–1.2(–1.5) mm diam., smooth or indistinctly punctate.
obovoid to elongate-obovoid, 2–2.5 mm, smooth or slightly rugose distally, dehiscence regularly circumscissile.
broadly ovoid to subglobose, 1.5–2(–2.5) mm, ± equaling tepals, dehiscence regularly circumscissile.
Amaranthus cruentus
Amaranthus caudatus
Amaranthus cruentus is cultivated as ornamental and pseudocereal almost worldwide from tropical to warm-temperate regions. While reported as naturalized in several states, most specimens identified as this species are referable to A. hybridus or other native species. Escaped plants of A. cruentus sometimes occur near places of cultivation (see note under A. caudatus). No attempt has been made to summarize distribution data for such escapes.
Amaranthus cruentus originated from A. hybridus (most probably in cultivation in Central America), with which it shares almost all major morphologic characteristics. Inclusion of cultivated forms in A. hybridus in a broad sense is thus rather justified. Cultivated species traditionally have been treated as separate taxa in horticultural and agricultural literature, and we prefer to maintain the current convenient usage of these names.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
While reported as naturalized in some states, most specimens identified as Amaranthus caudatus are referable to A. hybridus or other native species. Amaranthus caudatus is one of the most popular domesticated amaranths and is cultivated primarily as an ornamental, and, to a lesser degree, as a pseudocereal. Plants of A. caudatus may occur locally, usually close to places of cultivation and mostly in the southern regions of the flora. No reliable records of their successful naturalization are available. It is impossible at present to trace records of such ephemeral populations and individual escapes; maps and detailed distribution statements for cultivated species of amaranths are not presented here.
The origin of Amaranthus caudatus remains uncertain. It is generally believed that it originated in South America or Central America from some unspecified wild race of the A. hybridus aggregate, probably South American A. quitensis Kunth. At least some cultivated forms and strains of A. caudatus probably developed with some degree of hybridization with other cultivated species. Numerous infraspecific entities that are mostly of horticultural importance have been described within A. caudatus. Forms with erect and robust club-shaped inflorescences have been recognized as A. mantegazzianus.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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WildflowerSearch
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- Local floras: CA, WA
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers,
KS Wildflowers, MI Flora, 
MO Plants, PNW Herbaria - WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
