12 AMARANTACE& [AMARANTUS. 



the grain is known under the name of rdmddna. It is much grown 

 in English gardens as well as in India as an ornamental plant under 

 the name of " Love-lies-bleeding." In the warmer parts of Africa 

 it takes the place of A. paniculatus as a grain-yielding crop. 



4. A. gangeticus, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 1268 ; Eoxb. Fl. Ind: 

 ill, 606 ; Boyle III. 321 ; F. B. I. iv, 719 ; Watt E. D.; Comm. Prod. 

 Ind. 62 ; Duthie Field and Card. Crops, part tii, 77, t. 67 ; Train 

 Beng. PI. 870 ; Cooke Fl Bomb, ii, 489. A oleraceus, Willd. (not 

 Linn.]-, Eoxb. 1. c. 605; Watt E. D.; Comm. Prod. Ind. 62. 

 A. lanceolatus, Eoxb. 1. c. 607 ; "Watt E. D.; Comm. Prod. Ind. 62. 

 A. atropurpureus, Eoxb. 1. c. 608 ; F. B. I. iv, 722 ; Watt E. D. 

 A. tricolor, Willd. ; Eoxb. 1. c. 608. A. melancholicus, Willd. ; 

 Eoxb. 1. c. 608 ; Eoyle III. 320 ; Watt E. D. A. lividus, W ilU.; 

 Eoxb. 1. c. 605 ; Watt E. D. ; Comm. Prod. Ind. 62. Vern. 

 Lai-sag, chaulai-sdg, labra (Merwara). 



.An erect stout glabrous annual. Stem 2-4 ft. high, branching above 

 the middle, grooved and striate, glabrous or nearly so, often tinged 

 with purple. Leaves very variable both as to size and colour, rhom- 

 boid or deltoid-ovate, obtuse or emarginate and often apiculate at 

 the apex, tapering to the base and decurrent on the petiole ; petioles 

 up to 3 in. long. Flowers in axillary clusters and also forming long 

 interrupted spikes ; bracts membranous, exceeding the perianth, 

 narrowly lanceolate arid tipped with a slender awn. Perianth J in. 

 long. Sepals 3, lanceolate, tipped with a long capillary awn. Stamens 

 3. Capsule -3 in. long, ovoid abruptly narrowed at the apex, rugose, 

 membranous ; styles 3, distinct. Seeds lenticular, black and shining. 



Xargely cultivated throughout India and in Ceylon and in other parts 

 of Tropical Asia ; also in Trop. Africa and America. This is an 

 extremely variable plant especially in Bengal. The species de- 

 scribed by Roxburgh, and enumerated above as synonyms of A. 

 gangeticus, are regarded by Prain as representing well-marked races, 

 some of which, and more particularly A. oleraceus, include many more 

 or less distinguishable and definite sub-races or cultivated forms. 



TAR. tristls, Prain Beng. PI. 870 ; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 490. A. tristis, 

 Willd.; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. Hi, 604. A. polygamus,TF?7Zrf. (not of Linn.) ; 

 Eoxb. I c. 603. A. mangostanus L.; F. B. I. iv, 720 ; Watt E. D. ; 

 Prain Beng. PL 871. An annual herb, branching from near the base. 

 The leaves are as variable in shape and colour as are those of the 

 type, from which it chiefly differs in that the plants can be cut down 

 several times without injuring them, a new crop of shoots springing 



