124 AMARAXTHACEAE. 



1. Amaranthus crassipes Schlecht. Linnaea 6: 757. 1831. 



Scleropus amaranthoides Schrad. Ind. Sem. Hort. Goetting. 1835. 



Glabrous; stems prostrate or somewhat ascending, rather fleshy, 2-6 dm. 

 long. Petioles slender, 0.5-4 em. long; leaves ovate to oblong or obovate, 0.5- 

 3.5 cm. long, prominently whitish-veined, rounded and emarginate at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base; flowers monoecious, in dense short-peduncled axillary 

 clusters, the peduncles thickened; bracts very small, ovate, acutish; sepals of 

 the pistillate flowers 4 or 5, spatulate, scarious, about 1.5 mm. long, obtuse or 

 emarginate ; style-branches 2 ; utricle obovoid, compressed, coriaceous, finely 

 tuberculate, indehiscent; seed dark brown or black, smooth, about 1 mm. broad. 



Waste places, Xew Providence. Watling's and South Caicos : Florida; West 

 Indies ; northern South America. Thick-stalked Amaranth. 



2 Amaranthus polygonoides L. PI. Jam. Pug. 27. 1759. 



Jmblogyna polygonoides Eaf. Fl. Tell. 3: 42. 1836. 



Stems slender, prostrate or ascending, much branched, 1-5 dm. long, villous 

 above. Petioles 2-7 mm. loug; leaves 0.5-2 cm. long, rhombic-ovate to obovate, 

 obtuse and usually emarginate at the apex, narrowed or euneate at the base, 

 glabrous, or sparingly pubescent beneath; flowers monoecious, in sessile dense 

 axillary small clusters; bracts lanceolate, acuminate, much shorter than the 

 sepals; sepals of the pistillate flowers spatulate, obtuse or apiculate, white, 

 scarious, 3-nerved, connate at the base, those of the staminate flowers oblong, 

 acute ; stamens and style-branches 2 or 3 ; utricle circumscissile ; seed dark 

 brown or black, shining, less than 1 mm. broad. 



Sandy waste places, usually roadsides and paths, Eleuthera and Inagua : 

 Florida : Texas ; Cuba ; Hispaniola ; St. Thomas to Martinique ; Curacao ; Jamaica ; 

 Mexico to northern South America. Knotweed Amaranth. 



3. Amaranthus viridis L. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 1405. 1763. 



Amaranthus emarginatus Salzm. ; Uline & Bray, Bot. Gaz. 19: 319. 1894. 



Stems slender, prostrate or ascending, glabrous, usually branched, 1-6 dm. 

 long. Leaves slender-petioled, rhombic-ovate, 1-4 cm. long, glabrous, deeply 

 emarginate at the apex, rounded or narrowed at the base; flowers monoecious, 

 in small axillary clusters and usually also in a short terminal spike; bracts 

 ovate to lanceolate, acute, as long as the sepals or shorter; sepals 3, those of the 

 pistillate flowers oblong or oblong-oblanceolate, obtuse or shorter than the 

 utricle, those of the staminate flowers oblong, acute; stamens and style- 

 branches 3; utricle smooth, indehiscent; seed reddish-brown, shining, nearly 1 

 mm. broad. 



In cultivated ground, New Providence at Nassau : southern United States : 

 Cuba: Porto Rico: Jamaica: Guadeloupe ; tropical South America and Old World 

 tropics. Notch-leaved Amaranth. 



4. Amaranthus gracilis Desf. Tabl. Bot. 43. 1804. 



Glabrous; stem erect, usually branched, 2-9 dm. high. Leaves slender- 

 petioled, 8 cm. long or less, ovate or rhombic-ovate, mostly obtuse and emargi- 

 nate at the apex, narrowed or rounded at the base; flowers monoecious, in 

 slender, axillary and terminal, sometimes panicled spikes 412 em. long, and 

 also often in small dense axillary clusters; bracts ovate to lanceolate, acute, 

 scarious, much shorter than the 3 sepals; sepals cuspidate, 1-1.5 mm. long; 

 stamens and style-branches 3 ; utricle wrinkled, indehiscent, as long as the 

 sepals or longer; seed dull, dark brown, 1 mm. broad. 



Waste grounds near dwellings. Great Bahama. Andros, New Providence, Eleu- 

 thera. Long Island and Watling's : southeastern United States ; West Indies and 

 tropical and subtropical America ; Old World tropics. Slender Amaranth. 



