SPECIES DESCRIPTION
AMARANTHUS ALBUS
Family and Genus:- See- AMARANTHACEAE
Common Name:- White amaranth
Homotypic 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
