AMARANTH FAMILY. 361 



» Leaves alternate, mostly long-pet ioled ; anthers i-celled. 

 +■ Flotoers perfect ; ovules and seeds numerous. 



1. CEL08IA. Nearly as Amarantus, but the crowded spikes imbricated with shining 



colored bracts. In cultivation the spikes are often changed into broad crests. 

 +- -i- Flowers dicecious, moncecious, or polygamous ; ovule solitary. 



2. AMAKANTUS. Flowers monoecious or polygamous. Calyx of 5, or sometimes 3, equal 



erect sepals, glabrous. Stamens 5, sometimes 2 or 3. Stigmas 2 or 3. Ovule on a 

 stalk from the base of the ovary. Fruit an utricle, 2-3-pointed at apex, usually open- 

 ing all round transversely, the upper part falling off as a lid (Lessons, Fig. 387), dis- 

 charging the seed. Flowers in axillary or terminal spiked clusters. Bracts 3 at each 

 flower. 



3. ACNIDA. Flowers dioecious, the pistillate ones without a caly.v. Sterile flowers with 



5 stamens and 5 sejiais. Stigmas 2-5, often plumose. Bracts 1-3. 

 * * Leaves opposite ; anthers \ -celled. 

 +- Flowers capitate, the heads either axillary or terminal. 



4. TELANTHERA. Flowers perfect, in small dense heads (axillary in ours). Calyx 5- 



parted, the divisions unequal. Anther-bearing stamens 5, alternating with 5 sterile 

 filaments of the same length and which are lacialate at the top, all united Into a short 

 tube. Stigma capitate. 



5. GOMPHRENA. Flowers perfect, chiefly in terminal round heads, crowded with the 



firm colored bracts. Calyx 5-parted or of 5 sei)als, the parts nearly equal. Stamens 



5, monadelphous below, the filament tube elongated. Stigmas 2 or 3, subulate or 



filiform. (Lessons, Fig. 299.) 



+- +- Flowers spicate or paniculate. 

 6 FRCELICniA. Flowers perfect, 3-bracted, in spikes. Calyx tubular, 5-cleft at the 



summit, inclosing the fruit. Filaments united into a tube, bearing 5 anthers and as 



many sterile appendages. 

 7. IRESINE. Flowers generally dioecious or polygamous, 3-bracted, in panicles. Sepals 5. 



Stamens generally ^, with the filaments united in a cup below. 



1. CELOSIA, COCKSCOMB. (Greek: dried or burnt, alluding to 

 the scarions bracts.) Flowers summer. 



C. cristata, Linn. Commox C. Of the gardens, from the Tropics, in 

 various usually monstrous forms, the showy flower crests crimson-red, 

 sometimes rose-colored, yellow, or white. 



2. AMARANTUS, AMARANTH. (From Greek for unfading.) 

 Coarse weeds of cult, and waste grounds, and one or two cultivated 

 for ornament. Flowers late summer. Bracts commonly awn- 

 pointed. ® 



# Red Amaranths, the. floxoer clusters or the leaves tinged with red or 

 purple {except sometimes in the last). 



■t- Spikes drooping. 



A. caudatus, Linn. Prince's I^eather. Cult, from India; tall, 

 stout ; leaves ovate, bright green ; spikes red, naked, long and slender, 

 in a drooping panicle, the terminal one forming a very long tail. 



•4- ■*- Spikes erect. 



A. hypochondrlacus, Linn. Cult, from Trop. Amer.; stout; leaves 

 oblong, often reddish-tinged ; flower clusters deep crimson-purple, short 

 and thick, the upper making an interrupted blunt spike. 



A. paniculatus, Linn. Coarse weed in gardens; the oblong-ovate or 

 lance-oblong leaves often blotched or veined with purple ; flowers in 



