AMARANTHUS ALBUS

Family:- AMARANTHACEAE

Common Name:- White amaranth

Synonyms:- Glomeraria alba.

Meaning:- Amaranthus (Gr) Unfading, reference to the everlasting flowers.

Albus (L) Bright, white.

General description:- Short to tall annual.

Stems:-

a) Stout, erect or ascending.

b) hairy above.

Leaves:-

a) Oval to diamond-shaped.

b) pale green.

c) stalked.

d) white-hairy on veins beneath.

Flowers:-

a) greenish-white.

b) small, 2-3 mm.

c) numerous.

d) borne in branched spikes.

e) unisexual,

f) inflorescence, leafy to the top.

Fruit:- Capsule:

a) splitting open to release the seeds (dehiscent).

Key features:-

Habitat:- Weed of cultivated fields, especially of irrigated crops, occasionally in

ruderal or seminatural habitats, (roadsides, river banks etc.). 0-1000 m.

Distribution:- Native to S. United States. Naturalised and widespread in the

Mediterranean region, Widespread on Crete but localised around coastal areas.

Flowering time:- Mar-Oct.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton