AMARANTHUS BLITOIDES

Family:- AMARANTHACEAE

Common Name:- Prostrate amaranth

Synonyms:- None

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

Blitoides (Gr) Resembling Blitum, an ancient Greek name for a kind of

spinach.

General description:- Procumbent, spreading annual.

Stems:-

a) 15-50 cm.

b) procumbent.

c) whitish.

d) hairless (glabrous) or slightly hairy (pubescent) in the upper part.

Leaves:-

a)1·5-3 cm.

b) oblong-lanceolate to obovate-spatula-shaped, obtuse.

c) with distinct membranous margin.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence:

a) of short, axillary cymose clusters, leafy to the apex.

2) Bracteoles:

a) shorter than the perianth.

b) lanceolate.

3) Perianth-segments:

a) 4 or 5.

b) unequal.

c) resembling the bracteoles.

d) the largest 2-2·5 mm, with a short acumen.

Fruit:- Capsule:

a) splitting open to release the seeds (dehiscing) transversely.

Key features:-

1) Perianth-segments (4)5

2) Inflorescence composed entirely of axillary cymose clusters, usually leafy to the

apex.

3) Fruit dehiscing transversely.

4) Large perianth-segments with a short acumen.

Habitat:- Weed of cultivated fields, (especially of irrigated crops), gardens,

roadsides, wasteground, trampled areas. 0-1000 m.

Distribution:- Native to C & SW. United States. Naturalised and widespread in the

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

Flowering time:- May-Oct.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton