Flora of North America species comparison

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Gomphrena

globe amaranth
Habit Herbs, annual or perennial.
Stems

ascending, decumbent, prostrate, or erect.
Leaves

opposite, sessile or petiolate;

blade ovate to obovate, not fleshy, margins entire, long-pilose abaxially and sometimes adaxially.
Inflorescences

terminal and/or axillary, sessile, subglobose heads, often subtended by involucres of sessile leaves;

bracts and bracteoles thin.
Flowers

bisexual;

tepals 5, connate proximally;

stamens 5;

filaments connate basally into tube;

pseudostaminodes absent;

ovule 1;

style 1, 1.5–4 mm;

stigmas 2(–3), subulate or filiform.
Seeds

1, lenticular, subglobose, to ovoid, smooth.
Utricles

included in tepals, stramineous, ovoid or oblong, somewhat compressed, membranous, usually indehiscent.

Gomphrena
Distribution
from USDA
Tropical; subtropical; and warm-temperate regions
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species ca. 100 (9 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Bractlets not cristate
→ 2
1. Bractlets cristate along keel
→ 5
2. Plants cespitose 3-15 cm; stems with 1-2 pairs of leaves
→ 3
2. Plants not cespitose, 4-60 cm; each stem bearing numerous leaves
→ 4
3. Leaf blades green, very sparsely villose, glabrate; blades of cauline leaves longer than broad
G. viridis
3. Leaf blades gray, densely villose; blades of cauline leaves as broad as long
G. caespitosa
4. Flower tubes glabrous; inflorescence heads not subtended by 2 leaves
G. martiana
4. Flower tubes lanose proximally; inflorescence heads subtended by 2 leaves
G. sonorae
5. Roots fleshy, fusiform; plants perennial
→ 6
5. Roots fibrous; plants annual or sometimes perennial (G. serrata)
→ 7
6. Leaf blades 1.5-4 cm, apex rounded; perianth 4.5-4.7 mm
G. nealleyi
6. Leaf blades 3-10 cm, apex acute to acuminate; perianth ca. 5.3 mm
G. haageana
7. Inflorescence heads 20-28 mm diam
G. globosa
7. Inflorescence heads 8-16 mm diam
→ 8
8. Bractlets with denticulate crests; inflorescence heads 9-13 mm diam., usually tinged with red or pink; stems usually decumbent
G. serrata
8. Bractlets with laciniate crests; inflorescence heads 12-16 mm diam, yellowish white, rarely reddish; stems usually erect
G. nitida
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 451. Author: Steven E. Clemants.
Parent taxa Amaranthaceae
Subordinate taxa
G. caespitosa, G. globosa, G. haageana, G. martiana, G. nealleyi, G. nitida, G. serrata, G. sonorae, G. viridis
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 224. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 105. (1754)
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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