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green amaranth, green pigweed, hybrid amaranth, slender pigweed, slim amaranth, smooth amaranth, smooth pigweed

blood amaranth, caterpillar amaranth, purple amaranth, red amaranth

Habit Plants glabrous or glabrescent, or distal parts of stem and branches slightly pubescent when young. Plants almost glabrous or slightly pubescent distally, especially when young.
Stems

erect, green or sometimes reddish purple, rarely under-developed plants ascending, branched to nearly simple, 0.3–2(–2.5) m.

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 ovate, rhombic-ovate, or lanceolate, (2–)4–15 × (1–)2–6 cm, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, with mucro.

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.

Bracts

lanceolate-linear to subulate, 2–3.5(–4) mm, subequal to or 2 times as long as tepals, apex spinescent.

narrowly spathulate, 2–3 mm, equaling or slightly longer than tepals, apex short-spinescent.

Inflorescences

terminal and axillary, erect or reflexed, occasionally nodding, green or olive green, occasionally with silvery or reddish purple tint, leafless at least distally, terrminal inflorescence often slightly nodding with numerous shorter branches at base.

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.

Staminate flowers

at tips of inflorescences;

tepals 5;

stamens (4–)5.

at tips of inflorescences;

tepals 5;

stamens (4–)5.

Pistillate flowers

tepals 5, lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, subequal or unequal, 1.5–3 mm, membranaceous, apex acute or acuminate, gradually narrowing into aristate tip;

style branches erect, shorter than body of fruit;

stigmas 3.

tepals 5, oblong to lanceolate, not clawed, equal or subequal, 1.5–3 mm, apex acute;

style branches erect or slightly reflexed;

stigmas 3.

Seeds

black to dark reddish brown, lenticular to lenticular-globose, 1–1.3 mm, smooth, shiny.

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.

Utricles

obovoid or elongate-ovoid, 1.5–2.5 mm, shorter than tepals, smooth proximally, lid verrucose or rugose, dehiscence regularly circumscissile, or rarely in some presumably hybrid forms, irregularly dehiscent or indehiscent.

obovoid to elongate-obovoid, 2–2.5 mm, smooth or slightly rugose distally, dehiscence regularly circumscissile.

Amaranthus hybridus

Amaranthus cruentus

Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Waste places, agricultural and fallow fields, railroads, roadsides, riverbanks, other disturbed habitats Near places of cultivation
Elevation 0-2500 m (0-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; MB; NS; ON; QC; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Widely introduced or naturalized in tropical, subtropical, and warm-temperate regions worldwide]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CT; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; TX; UT; VT; WA; WI; WV; Central America; South America; cultivated widely
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Originally a riverside pioneer in eastern North America, now Amaranthus hybridus is extremely abundant in agricultural fields and other disturbed habitats. Related cultivated species have been reported from the flora area, including A. caudatus, A. hypochondriacus, and A. cruentus; there is no evidence that they are established; specimens identified as these species are often variants of A. hybridus.

Distribution of Amaranthus hybridus in North America needs clarification because the name was misapplied to other species, notably A. powellii, and specimens of A. retroflexus, A. powellii, and A. hybridus are frequently interchangeably misidentified. Forms of A. hybridus and A. powellii with reddish inflorescences are often misidentified as escaped and hence presumably naturalized, cultivated species A. caudatus Linnaeus, A. hypochondriacus Linnaeus, and A. cruentus Linnaeus.

Amaranthus hybridus is extremely variable. In particular, there are numerous North American specimens with subobtuse tepals and thick inflorescences, suggesting hybridization with A. retroflexus. In Europe such presumably hybrid forms are known as A. ×ozanonii Thellung (A. Thellung 1914–1919).

A new, presumably hybridogenous taxon, Amaranthus ×tucsonensis Henrickson, was recently described from Arizona (J. Henrickson 1999). It was suggested that one of its parents is A. hybridus; the other parental species (probably a species with obtuse or spatulate tepals) remains unknown. The problem of proper taxonomic position and origin of A. ×tucsonensis needs further study.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

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.)

Source FNA vol. 4. FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa Amaranthaceae > Amaranthus > subg. Amaranthus Amaranthaceae > Amaranthus > subg. Amaranthus
Sibling taxa
A. acanthochiton, A. albus, A. arenicola, A. australis, A. blitoides, A. blitum, A. californicus, A. cannabinus, A. caudatus, A. crassipes, A. crispus, A. cruentus, A. deflexus, A. dubius, A. fimbriatus, A. floridanus, A. graecizans, A. greggii, A. hypochondriacus, A. muricatus, A. obcordatus, A. palmeri, A. polygonoides, A. powellii, A. pumilus, A. retroflexus, A. scleropoides, A. spinosus, A. tamaulipensis, A. thunbergii, A. torreyi, A. tricolor, A. tuberculatus, A. viridis, A. viscidulus, A. watsonii, A. wrightii
A. acanthochiton, A. albus, A. arenicola, A. australis, A. blitoides, A. blitum, A. californicus, A. cannabinus, A. caudatus, A. crassipes, A. crispus, A. deflexus, A. dubius, A. fimbriatus, A. floridanus, A. graecizans, A. greggii, A. hybridus, A. hypochondriacus, A. muricatus, A. obcordatus, A. palmeri, A. polygonoides, A. powellii, A. pumilus, A. retroflexus, A. scleropoides, A. spinosus, A. tamaulipensis, A. thunbergii, A. torreyi, A. tricolor, A. tuberculatus, A. viridis, A. viscidulus, A. watsonii, A. wrightii
Synonyms A. hybridus subsp. cruentus
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 990. (1753) Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1269. (1759)
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