02 NAT. ORDER. — AMARANLACE.E. 



of its flowers, there are but few plants that can vie with it in gran- 

 deur. It is a native of Guiana. Flowers all summer. 



Ainaranlhus sanguineous. Spreading, or Bloody Amaranthus. In 

 this species the stem is uprigiit, about four feet in height ; they are 

 firm, round, red, and streaked ; the leaves somewhat convex, or 

 rather, so contracted as to possess the form of a boat, and pointed ; 

 the older ones rather blunt ; the upper surface is a mixture of red 

 and green, the lower more or less purple ; the petioles are tinged 

 Avith purple, channelled, and quite rough, and winged at the top with 

 the leaf; the racemes are very red ; the branches smooth, — 

 the lower ones spreading ; the calyx five-leaved ; leaflets oblong, 

 blunt, membraneous, and red ; the bracteas subulate-setaceous, red, 

 longer than the flowers, closely surrounding the glomerules. 



Amaranthus caudatus. Pendulous Amaranthus, or Love-lies- 

 bleeding. In this species the stem is from two to two and a iialf 

 feet in height, green, obscurely angular, grooved and streaked, smooth, 

 and covered at the top with thin, whitish, scattered hairs; the upper 

 part somewhat nodding on account of the extreme length of the 

 racemes ; the leaves are smooth, bright green, blunt, emarginate, 

 with an incurved transparent point; the petioles are much shorter 

 than the leaf; the racemes terminating, elegantly purple, very long, 

 cylindrical, and composed of flowers very closely glomerate ; the 

 calyx is five-leaved ; the leaflets oblong, red, acuminate, membrana- 

 ceous ; the bracteas oblong, pointed, and scattered. 



Amarantlms maxhnus. Tree Amaranthus. In this species the 

 stems ri.se to the height of seven or eight feet, sending oflT numerous 

 horizontal branches at every ton or twelve inches ; the leaves are 

 green, rough, and lu.x:uriant; the spikes are seldom half the length 

 of those of the other sorts, but are much thicker. It is said to 

 degenerate gradually into the smaller kind. The seed, which at 

 first are wliite, also become red. It flowers in August and Septem- 

 ber, and is a native of Persia. 



