Amaranthus cruentus
Amaranthus torreyi
blood amaranth, caterpillar amaranth, purple amaranth, red amaranth
Bigelow's amaranth, sandhill amaranth, Torrey's amaranth, Torrey's amaranthus
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 or ascending proximally, much-branched especially near base, 0.1–0.7 m. Leaves: petiole less than 1/2 as long as blade;
blade oblanceolate or lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, (1.2–)1.5–5(–7) × 0.3–2 cm, base narrowly cuneate to cuneate, margins entire, plane or slightly undulate, apex acute to subobtuse, mucronulate.
narrowly spathulate, 2–3 mm, equaling or slightly longer than tepals, apex short-spinescent.
lanceolate to linear-subulate, 1.3–3.5 mm, slightly longer than tepals.
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.
axillary clusters, toward apex aggregated in spikes (rarely spicate panicles), axes, leafy (occasionally almost leafless distally).
at tips of inflorescences;
tepals 5;
stamens (4–)5.
mostly at tips of inflorescences;
tepals 5, equal or subequal;
stamens 3(–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 to narrowly spatulate, clawed, equal or subequal, 1.5–2.5 mm, margins entire, apex obtuse, rounded, or slightly emarginate;
style branches erect;
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.
black, subglobose to broadly lenticular, 1 mm diam., smooth, shiny.
obovoid to elongate-obovoid, 2–2.5 mm, smooth or slightly rugose distally, dehiscence regularly circumscissile.
obovoid to subglobose-obovoid, 1.5–2 mm, nearly equaling or slightly shorter than tepals, smooth, dehiscence regularly circumscissile.
Amaranthus cruentus
Amaranthus torreyi
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.)
The name Amaranthus torreyi has been widely misapplied to at least two other species, 7. A. arenicola and 6. A. watsonii. Because of that, the name A. bigelovii was used for A. torreyi by J. D. Sauer (1955) and in some recent floras. Sometimes A. torreyi (California and Arizona) and A. bigelovii (New Mexico and Texas) are recognized as separate species. The nomenclature and taxonomic relationships in this group should be critically reviewed based on type specimens and additional experimental and field studies.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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