Flora of North America species comparison

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Amaranthus torreyi

Bigelow's amaranth, sandhill amaranth, Torrey's amaranth, Torrey's amaranthus
Habit Plants glabrescent to sparsely pubescent.
Stems

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.
Bracts

lanceolate to linear-subulate, 1.3–3.5 mm, slightly longer than tepals.
Inflorescences

axillary clusters, toward apex aggregated in spikes (rarely spicate panicles), axes, leafy (occasionally almost leafless distally).
Staminate flowers

mostly at tips of inflorescences;

tepals 5, equal or subequal;

stamens 3(–5).
Pistillate flowers

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.
Seeds

black, subglobose to broadly lenticular, 1 mm diam., smooth, shiny.
Utricles

obovoid to subglobose-obovoid, 1.5–2 mm, nearly equaling or slightly shorter than tepals, smooth, dehiscence regularly circumscissile.

Amaranthus torreyi
Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Sandy, rocky, and gravelly flats, slopes, canyons, washes, other naturally disturbed habitats
Elevation 1000-1700 m (3300-5600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; TX; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)
Source FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa 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. 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. tricolor, A. tuberculatus, A. viridis, A. viscidulus, A. watsonii, A. wrightii
Synonyms Amblogyna torreyi, Amblogyna bigelovii, A. pringlei, Sarratia berlandieri var. emarginata
Name authority (A. Gray) S. Watson: in W. H. Brewer et al., Bot. California 2: 42. (1880)
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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