Amaranthus hybridus
Amaranthus tricolor
green amaranth, green pigweed, hybrid amaranth, slender pigweed, slim amaranth, smooth amaranth, smooth pigweed
Joseph's-coat, summer poinsettia
erect, green or sometimes reddish purple, rarely under-developed plants ascending, branched to nearly simple, 0.3–2(–2.5) m.
erect, often branched, 0.8–1.5 m.
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 blade;
blade ovate, elliptic, rhombic, or lanceolate, mostly 4–12 × 1.4–6 cm, base tapering, margins entire, usually undulate, apex acuminate and short-mucronate;
distal leaf blades green, red, scarlet, maroon, purple, yellow, and cream (unique to A. tricolor).
lanceolate-linear to subulate, 2–3.5(–4) mm, subequal to or 2 times as long as tepals, apex spinescent.
of pistillate flowers ovate to lanceolate, 5–6 mm.
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.
axillary glomerules.
at tips of inflorescences;
tepals 5;
stamens (4–)5.
intermixed with pistillate;
tepals 3;
stamens 3.
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 3, narrowly ovate to lanceolate, 5–6 mm, apex aristate;
style branches spreading;
stigmas 2–3.
black to dark reddish brown, lenticular to lenticular-globose, 1–1.3 mm, smooth, shiny.
black or brownish black, subglobose, 1 mm diam., shiny.
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.
ovoid, 2–2.5 mm, rugose, dehiscence regularly circumscissile.
Amaranthus hybridus
Amaranthus tricolor
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 tricolor is widely cultivated as a garden plant for its showy, often variegated, distal leaves of striking colors—red, scarlet, maroon, purple, yellow, cream, and green. Other cultivated varieties with green leaves are sometimes cultivated as a potherb. Escaped plants sometimes occur near places of cultivation; we have no evidence of widespread establishment.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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