loO FLORA OF JAMAICA Amarantus 



crustaceous, deep brown to black. Embryo annular, cotj^ledons 

 linear. 



Species, about 45 enumerated, widespread over the whole 

 world except in polar regions. 



Plant spiny 1. A. sinnosus. 



Plants without spines. 



Flowers in a terminal spike, generally long and 

 branched and in axillary spikes or clusters. 

 Perianth-segments 5. Utricle smooth, circumsciss. 2. A. tristis. 

 Perianth-segments 3. Utricle wrinkled, indehi- 



scent 3. A. viridis. 



Flowers in clusters or very short spikes. 

 Peduncles of clusters thick, and deciduous with 



fruit 4. A. crassipes. 



Peduncles wanting. Female perianth with urceo- 



late tube, thick 5. A.'polygonoides. 



1. A. spinosus L. Sp. PI. 991 (1753); leaf -axils with spines. 

 Wright Mem. 299 ; Moq. in DC. Prodr. xiii. pt. 2, 260 ; Griseh. 

 Fl. Br. W. Incl 68; Wight Ic. t. 513; Urh. Symh. Ant. iv. 218. 

 Blitum Americanum spinosum Sloane Cat. 49 & Hist. i. 143. 

 Type in Herb. Linn. 



Prickly Calalu, Spinach. 



By way-sides everywhere and in cane-piece intervals, Sloane Herb. ii. 

 112 ! Wright ! Broughton ! Shakspear ! Parnell ! river courses, Fort 

 Stewart, Metcalfe ! Moneague, Prior ! Ball ! Bermuda (introd.), Bahamas, 

 West Indies, continental America, trop. Africa and Asia. 



Stem 3-6 dm. high, red and prickly. Spines of the flowering shoots 

 5-1 cm. 1. Leaves of the flowering shoots ovate to rhomboid-lanceolate 

 or lanceolate, light green, to 5*5 cm. 1., to 3 cm. br. Floivers white or 

 brown, in axillary globose clusters, and generally also in long terminal 

 spikes. Bract and bracteoles subulate, bristle-like, equalling or exceeding 

 the perianth. Perianth 1*5 mm. 1.; segments 5. Stamens 5. Utricle 

 1*5 mm. 1., bursting irregularly above the base, apex 2-3-fid. Seed 

 8 mm. br. 



In common use for greens, and by some preferred to the true spinach. 



2. A. tPistis L. Sp). PI. 989 (1753); terminal spike with few 

 branches, long and flexuose, axillary spikes smaller ; perianth- 

 segments 5 ; stamens 5 (4 or 3) ; utricle smooth ; circumsciss.- 

 Willd. Amarant. t. 5,/. 10: 3Ioq. loc. cit. ; Griseh. opj. cit. 69; 

 Urh. loc. cit. 



Spanish Calalu. 



Broughton ! Shakspear ! Distin ! March ! Hope, Harris ! Fl. Jam. 

 6802. Cayman, Bahamas, W. Indies, tropical and subtropical regions. 



Stem to 4 dm. high. Leaves rhomboid-ovate to ovate, obtuse, sub- 

 emarginate, to 5 cm. 1., to 3 cm. br., long-stalked. Bracts about as long 

 as the perianth, acute. Perianth 2 mm. 1., segments oblong, obtuse, 

 mucronulate. Utricle as long as the perianth, apex 2-3-fid, circumsciss 

 at middle. Seed 1 mm. 1., 'lb mm. br. 



There is no specimen in Linnseus's Herbarium. A. gangeticus L., to 

 which A. tristis is doubtfully referred (Flora of British India iv. 719), has 

 3 long-awned perianth- segments, much longer than the utricle. 



