Amaranthus viridis
Amaranthus retroflexus
green amaranth, slender amaranth, tropical green amaranth
common amaranth, pigweed amaranth, red-root amaranth, red-root pigweed, rough pigweed, wild-beet amaranth
erect, simple or with lateral branches (especially distally), 0.2–1 m. Leaves: petiole 1/2–11/2 as long as blade;
blade rhombic-ovate or ovate, 1–7 × 0.5–5 cm, base rounded, cuneate, or attenuate, margins entire, plane, apex obtuse, rounded, or emarginate, mucronate.
erect, reddish near base, branched in distal part to simple 0.2–1.5(–2) m; underdeveloped or damaged plants rarely ascending to nearly prostrate.
petiole 1/2 to equaling blade;
blade ovate to rhombic-ovate, 2–15 × 1–7 cm, base cuneate to rounded-cuneate, margins entire, plane or slightly undulate, apex acute, obtuse, or slightly emarginate, with terminal mucro.
of pistillate flowers ovate to lanceolate, 1 mm, shorter than tepals.
lanceolate to subulate, (2.5–)3.5–5(–6) mm, exceeding tepals, apex acuminate with excurrent midrib.
slender spikes aggregated into elongate terminal panicles, also from distal axils, green, leafless at least distally.
terminal and axillary, erect or reflexed at tip, green or silvery green, often with reddish or yellowish tint, branched, leafless at least distally, usually short and thick.
inconspicuous, mostly at tips of inflorescences;
tepals 3;
stamens 3.
few at tips of inflorescences;
tepals 5;
stamens (3–)4–5.
tepals 3, narrowly elliptic, obovate-elliptic or spatulate, not clawed, ± equal, 1.2–1.7 mm, apex rounded or nearly acute, mucronate or not;
style branches erect;
stigmas 3.
tepals 5, spatulate-obovate, lanceolate-spatulate, not clawed, subequal or unequal, (2–)2.5–3.5(–4) mm, membranaceous, apex emarginate or obtuse, with mucro;
style branches erect or slightly spreading,;
stigmas 3.
black or dark brown, subglobose to thick-lenticular, 1 mm diam., minutely punctulate, rather dull.
black to dark reddish brown, lenticular to subglobose-lenticular, 1–1.3 mm, smooth, shiny.
ovoid to compressed-ovoid, 1–1.6 mm, equaling or slightly exceeding tepals, prominently or faintly rugose, indehiscent.
broadly obovoid to broadly elliptic, 1.5–2.5 mm, shorter than or subequal to tepals, smooth or slightly rugose, especially near base and in distal part, dehiscence regularly circumscissile.
Amaranthus viridis
Amaranthus retroflexus
Amaranthus retroflexus, native to central and eastern North America, is a successful invasive species and has effectively colonized a wide range of habitats on all inhabited continents. Its variability is extremely wide; usually the species is easily recognized and its identification causes no specific problems. Infraspecific entities described within A. retroflexus are mostly ecologic variants of little or no taxonomic value. Two varieties are more easily recognized: the common var. retroflexus, with bracts about 1.5–2 times as long as tepals, and a more rare var. delilei (Richter & Loret) Thellung (= A. delilei Richter & Loret), with bracts 1–1.5 times as long as tepals.
Occasional forms morphologically intermediate between Amaranthus retroflexus and taxa of the A. hybridus aggregate (e.g., A. powellii and A. hybridus, in the strict sense) are known both in the Americas and the Old World. Usually such plants are treated as hybrids; in many cases they are probably just extremes of the natural variability of A. retroflexus. Putative hybrids of A. retroflexus were described from Europe as A. ×ozanonii Thellung (A. hybridus × A. retroflexus) and A. ×soproniensis Priszter & Karpáti (A. powellii × A. retroflexus) (see A. Thellung 1914–1919; S. Priszter 1958; P. Aellen 1959; F. Grüll and S. Priszter 1973).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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