Flora of North America species comparison

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Amaranthus muricatus

African amaranth, muricate amaranth
Habit Plants annual or short-lived perennial, glabrous or slightly pubescent near tips.
Stems

ascending or prostrate, much-branched from stout rootstock, 0.1–0.4 m.
Leaves

petiole to 1/2 as long as blade;

blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1.5–8 × 0.2–0.5(–1) mm, base tapering, margins entire, plane to undulate, apex obtuse and often emarginate.
Bracts

of pistillate flowers linear, 0.7–1.2 mm, 1/2–2/3 as long as tepals.
Inflorescences

terminal, compact pyramidal panicles and axillary glomerules, erect or reflexed, green, leafless at least distally.
Staminate flowers

intermixed with pistillate or at tips of inflorescences;

tepals 5;

stamens 5.
Pistillate flowers

tepals 5, narrowly oblanceolate, not clawed, equal, 1.5–2 mm, apex obtuse or subacute;

style branches erect;

stigmas 3.
Seeds

black, lenticular, 1–1.2 mm diam., semiglossy.
Utricles

compressed, subglobose, 1.7–2 mm, ± equaling or slightly exceeding tepals, muricate, indehiscent.

Amaranthus muricatus
Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Waste places, on ballast
Elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; s South America (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay) [Introduced in North America; introduced in s Europe, s Africa, Australia, and other regions]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The vernacular name “African amaranth” is sometimes used for this species; it is a misnomer; the species is native to South America and naturalized in Africa.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 431.
Parent taxa Amaranthaceae > Amaranthus > subg. Albersia
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. hybridus, A. hypochondriacus, 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 Euxolus muricatus
Name authority (Moquin-Tandon) Hieronymus: Pl. Diaph. Fl. Argent., 227. (1882)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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