Amaranthus.] CVI. AMARANTACEE (BAKER AND CLARKE). 31 
the seed never escaping. In 4. Blitum it is sometimes thin, more or less dehiscent, 
but not rarely it becomes succulent and is altogether indehiscent. In most of the 
other species the fruit is thin. 
In some of the species with 3-merous perianth, two additional segments (smaller 
and interior) are added in the stronger perfect flowers, as shown by Schinz (in Engl. 
& Prantl, Pflanzenfam, iii. 1A, 93, t. 46, fig. A). Boissier says the periauth in 
A. gangeticus (tricolor, Linn.) is always 5-fid.; Hooker f. says it is 3-fid. Both 
Moquin and others found their Huxolus caudatus with 3 perianth-segments on a 
plate which shows 5 perianth-segments (as see under 4. viridis, below). As far as 
I have seen, the small-flowered species of Amaranthus have always 3 perianth- 
segments. In the subjoined table of species I have endeavoured to evade these 
disputed points. 
Spikes linear, panicled at the ends of the branches; 
some shorter axillary spikes sometimes added. 
Perianth-segments +; in, long, overtopping the fruits, 
Perianth-segments 5; axillary spikes rare - . 1. .4. eaudatus. 
Perianth-segments 3 ; axillary spikes frequent ; 2. A. trecolor. 
Perianth-segments +1, in. long, about as long as the 
fruits. 
Lower leaves (some of them) with 2 axillary spines . 3. 4. spingsus. 
Plants without spines. 
Fruit a pyxis . . : : . : 
Fruit wrinkled, herbaceous, indehiscent : : 
Spikes axillary, running into a single oblong dense spike 
Spikes all axillary, short. 
Perianth-segments long-lanceolate, overtopping the 
fruits . : 5 5 : 5 : : 
Perianth-segments suddenly acute, hardly as long as 
the fruit. 
Decumbent, much branched : : . 8. A. Blitum. 
Branches elongate : : : . : . 9. A. polygamus. 
1. A. caudatus, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 1, 990, ed. 2, 1406. An erect 
annual, 1-3 ft. high. Leaf-blade narrow-elliptic, 2-5 in. long, some- 
times a foot long. Spikes numerous (often 20, sometimes 80), 1-4 in. 
long, dense, in a dense terminal panicle (the terminal spike often 6 in. 
long) yellowish, usually becoming brown in fruit. Perianth ,}, in. long, 
of 5 oblong scarcely acute segments, many with a short subterminal 
mucro ; bracts (many of them) long-cuspidate, overtopping the perianth. 
Capsule membranous, ultimately circumscissile ; style-branches (usually 
3) very long; seeds yellow with a rounded margin, or black with a 
compressed margin.—Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 255; A. Rich. 
Tent. Fl. Abyss. ii. 213; Aschers. in Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Aethiop. 176 ; 
T. Thoms. in Speke, Nile, Append. 646; Oliver in Trans. Linn. Soc. 
xxix. 140; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. iv. 719; Zarb in Cat. Spéc. Bot. 
Pfund, 33; Boiss. Fl. Orient. iv. 988; Schinz in Engl. & Prantl, Pflan- 
zenfam. iii. 1A, 103, fig. 56; Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr. 205; Engl. 
Pfil. Ost-Afr. C. 172; Hiern in Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. i. 886; Durand & 
Schinz, Etudes Fl. Congo, i. 233 ; Schinz in Bull. Herb. Boiss. iv. Append. 
Mi £63, (8: paniculatus, Hook. Niger FI. 492; Schinz in Engl. & 
Prantl, Pflanzenfam.iii. 1A, 103; Durand & De Wild. in Comptes-rendus 
Soc. Bot. Belg. xxxvi. 85; Schinz in Bull. Herb. Boiss. v. Append. iii. 64 ; 
A, patulus. 
. A. viridis. 
. A. oleraceus. 
Se Ot 
wT 
. A. grecizans. 
