NAT. ORDER. AMARANLACRE. , 91 



lower ones rufous liver-colored on the upper surface, bright purple 

 on the lower, with elevated veins — the upper ones green, with red 

 tips; the petioles channelled, brigiit purple, smooth, and edged at 

 the top with the decreasing leaf; the lower ones nearly their length ; 

 the glomerules subscssile, dark purple, on a very short, undivided 

 peduncle ; the calyx five leaved ; the leaflets oblong, purple, mem- 

 braneous, ending in a dark red point. Professor Martyn observes 

 that this species varies in the color of their leaves : as, when grown 

 in the open air, they are of a dirty purple on their upper surface, 

 and in the younger ones green ; while, in the stone, the whole 

 plant is of a beautiful fmc purple color. It is, however, easily 

 distinguished in all states by its color, its leaves, its lateness of flow- 

 ering, &c. It is a native of Guiana and the East Indies. Mr. Mil- 

 ler remarks that it grows to the same height of the Tricolor, and in 

 the manner of its growth greatly resembles it ; but the leaves have 

 only two colors, an obscure purple and a bright crimson, so blended 

 as to set off each other, making a fine appearance when the plants 

 are vigorous. 



AmaraiitJms tricolor. Three-colored Amaranthus. In this species 

 the stems rise from a foot and a half to two feet in heiglit ; they are 

 obscurely angular, smooth, and upright; the leaves blue with a red 

 point, smooth and waved ; the younger ones yellow, with red, espe- 

 cially the tips ; those in a more mature state coralled at the base, 

 violet in the middle, and green at the end; the old ones green with 

 a violet base ; the petioles very long, smooth, green, channelled, and 

 bordered ; the glomerules germinate, green, and axillary ; the calyx 

 three-leaved ; the leaflets oblong, acuminate, membranaceous, with 

 a green nerve. It varies in the color of the leaves, which are less 

 painted in the open air than in the stone. It has been long cultiva- 

 ted for the beauty of its variegated leaves, in which the colors are 

 elegantly mixed. When the plant is in full vigor, these are large 

 and clo.sely set from the bottom to the top of the stalk. The branches 

 also form a sort of pyramid ; so that in form, as well as the beauty 



