GENUS i. 



AMARANTH FAMILY. 



10. Amaranthus crispus (Lesp. & Thev.) A. 

 Braun. Crisp-leaved Amaranth. Fig. 1668. 



Eitxolus crispus Lesq. & Thev. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 



6: 656. 1859. 

 Amarantus crispus A. Braun ; A. Gray, Man. Ed. 6, 428. 



1890. 



Pubescent, stem copiously branched, slender, 

 spreading on the ground, prostrate, forming mats 

 8'-2i in diameter. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, 

 mostly acute at the apex and narrowed at the base, 

 petioled, 4"-i' long, their margins remarkably 

 crisped ; petioles shorter than or exceeding the 

 blades ; flowers all in small axllary clusters shorter 

 than the petioles; bracts lanceolate, cuspidate, 

 shorter than the 5 sepals; utricle wrinkled, inde- 

 hiscent, about as long as the sepals. 



In waste places, New York city, Brooklyn and Al- 

 bany, N. Y. Also in France. Native region unknown. 

 June-Sept. 



ii. Amaranthus pumilus Raf. Coast Amaranth. Fig. 1669. 



Amarantus pumilus Raf. Med. Rep. (II.) 5 : 360. 1808. 

 Euxohis pumilus Chapm. Fl. S. States 381. 1860. 



Glabrous, fleshy, branched, the branches pros- 

 trate or ascending, 3'-8' long. Leaves ovate, 

 rhombic-ovate, obovate or suborbicular, most of 

 them clustered toward the ends of the branches, 

 obtuse or emarginate at the apex, narrowed or 

 rounded at the base, prominently veined, petioled, 

 3"-io" long, the veins often purple ; flowers few 

 together in small axillary clusters; bracts lanceo- 

 late, subacute, shorter than the 5 oblong obtuse 

 sepals ; stamens 5 ; anthers yellow ; utricle fleshy, 

 indehiscent, faintly 5-ribbed, slightly wrinkled, 

 nearly twice as long as the sepals when mature ; 

 seed very large for the genus. 



On sea beaches, Rhode Island to North Carolina. 

 Dwarf amaranth. June-Sept. 



2. ACNIDA L. Sp. 1027. 1753. 



Annual, erect or decumbent, glabrous branching herbs, similar to the dioecious Amar- 

 anths, with alternate petioled thin pinnately veined leaves. Flowers small, green, i-3-bracted, 

 in terminal and axillary, continuous or interrupted spikes, or clustered in the axils. Stami- 

 nate flowers consisting of 5 scarious erect i -nerved mucronate sepals longer than the bracts, 

 and as many stamens ; filaments subulate, distinct ; anthers 2-celled. Pistillate flowers without 

 a calyx ; ovary ovoid or subglobose ; stigmas 2-5, papillose or plumose, short or elongated. 

 Utricle fleshy and indehiscent, or membranous and bursting irregularly or circumscissile ; 

 seed erect, smooth and shining. [Greek, without nettle.] 



About 6 species, natives of eastern North America and the West Indies. Type species : Acnida 

 cannabina L. 



Utricle fleshy, angled, indehiscent ; salt-marsh plant. i. A. cannabina, 



Utricle membranous, irregularly dehiscent or circumscissile ; plants of fresh water swamps. 



Utricle circumscissile. 2. A. tamariscina. 



Utricle irregularly dehiscent. 3. A. tuberculata. 



