AMARANTHUS HYPOCHONDRIACUS

Family:- AMARANTHACEAE

Common Name:- Prince's feather.

Synonyms:- Amaranthus hybridus f. hypochondriacus, Amaranthus hybridus

var. hypochondriacus, Amaranthus hybridus subsp. hypochondriacus.

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

Hypochondriacus (Gr) Sombre, melancholy.

General description:- Erect annual, usually reddish or purplish throughout.

Stems:-

a) 30-150 cm.

b) stout, branched, erect or ascending.

c) sparsely pubescent to almost glabrous (pubescent) above.

d) often reddish-tinged.

Leaves:-

a) 3-15 x 2-8 cm.

b) long petiolate.

c) broadly lanceolate to rhombic-ovate.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence:

a) elongate-spicate, often compound, with long branches, terminal.

b) panicle variously coloured.

c) mostly erect, with up to 20 mm thick branches.

2) Bracteoles:

a) 2.5-4(-5) mm.

b) c. 1.5 times as long as the perianth.

3) Perianth-segments:

a) 5, 2-3 mm.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule:

a) 2-2.5 mm.

b) usually longer than the perianth.

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

2) Seed:

a) c. 1 mm.

b) black or pale.

Key features:-

1) Panicle, mostly erect, with up to 20 mm thick branches.

2) Bracteoles 1.5 times as long as the perianth.

Habitat:- Fallow fields, ruderal habitats. 0-400 m.

Distribution:- Very scattered throughout Greece. Probably originated in

domestication in north America as a grain crop. Limited distribution on Crete.

Flowering time:- May-Oct.

Photos by:- An Other