Chaniisaoa 



AMARANTACEiE 



129 



Prior 1 March ! Ball ! near Newcastle, J.P. 1058 Hart I August Town, 

 Campbell I Hope ; near Browns Town ; Mt. Diabolo ; Harris I Fl. Jam. 

 6372, 6971, 7079, 8506.— Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, St. 

 Cruz, Saba, Martinique, Grenada, Trinidad, tropical continental America. 



Fig. 89.—Chamissoa altissima H. B. & F. 



A, Inflorescence and leaf. D, Flower with short' stamens, ^perianth 



B, Flower-bud with bract and bracteoles. removed. 



C, Flower. E, Fruit. 



F, Seed cut lengthwise ; c, cotyledons ; r, radicle ; e, endosperm. 



Stems split for hoops and baskets. The young tops are boiled for 

 greens. 



Shrub, with herbaceous branches, climbing through trees, sometimes 

 20 ft. high. Leaves glabrous, elliptical to lanceolate, to 9 cm. 1., petiole 

 to 2-5 cm. 1. Inflorescence lax-flowered or dense-flowered. Bract and 

 bracteoles 1-5 mm. 1., keeled. Perianth 3 mm. 1., more or less keeled. 

 Stamens shorter than, or as long as, the perianth. Seed enveloped with 

 a transparent aril. 



3. AMARANTUS L. 



Annual herbs. Leaves alternate, long-stalked. Flowers 

 monoRcious, small, in axillary clusters or spikes, and sometimes 

 with a long terminal spike. Perianth-segments 5—3, ovate, 

 oblong, linear, lanceolate or subulate. Stamens 2-5, free ; 

 anthers 2-celled ; staminodes none. Ovary compressed ; style 

 short or wanting, stigmas 2-3, filiform or subulate ; ovule 1, 

 erect, with short stalk. Utricle compressed, indehiscent or 

 circumsciss, tip entire or 2-3-toothed. Seed lenticular, testa 



K 



