

AMAKANTHACKAE (AMARANTH FAMILY) 



distinguished from the following species chiefly by its smoother character, thicker 

 spikes, and longer-awned bracts. 



4. A. p.vNicLLATLS L. (PuRPLK A.) Stem mostly pubescent; leaves 

 oblong-ovate or ovate-lanceolate ; spikes long^ numerous and slender^ panicled, 

 spreading; bracts merely aicn-pointed ; flowers small, green tinged with red, or 

 sometin)e.s crimson ; fruit 2-o-toothed at the ajDex, longer than the calyx. (A. 

 hi/hridns, var. Uline & Bray.) — Roadsides, etc. (Adv. from Trop. Ani.j 



* * Flowers crowded in close and small axillai'y clusters ; stems low. spreading 

 or ascending ; stamens and sepals 3, or the former only 2. 



5. A. graecizans L. (Tumble Weed.) Smooth, pale 

 green ; stems whitish, erect or ascending, diffusely branched ; 

 leaves small, obovate and spatulate-oblong, very obtuse or 

 retuse ; flowers greenish ; sepals 

 acuminate, half the length of the 

 rugose fruit, much shorter than 

 the subulate rigid pungendy pointed 

 bracts ; seed small, 0.8 mm. broad. 

 (J. albus L.) — Waste grounds, 

 common. Fig. 720. 



6. A. blitoides Wats. Like the 

 last, but 'prostrate or decumbent; 

 spikelets usually contracted ; bracts 

 ovate-oblong, shortly acuminate/ 



sepals obtuse or acute ; fruit not rugose; seed about 

 1.5 mm. broad. — From Minn, to Mo., Tex., and 

 westw. ; also introduced eastw. , chiefly on railroad 

 ballast. Fig. 72L 



720. A. graecizans 



721. A. blitoides. 

 Tip of brancii x 2/3. Seed x 4, 



o 

 •J. 



§ 2. Utricle thiiuiish, bursting or imperfectly circumscissile ; flowers monoecious. 



7. A. si'iNosus L. (Thorxy A.) Smooth, bushy-branched ; stem reddish ; 

 leaves rhombic-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, dull green, a pair of spines in their 

 axils ; upper clusters sterile, forming long and slender spikes ; the fertile globular 

 and mostly in the axils ; flowers yellowish-green, small. — Waste grounds, Me. 

 to Minn., and southw. (Nat. from Trop. Am.) 



EtlXOLUS (Raf.) Gray. Utricle remaining closed or bursting irregu- 

 larly; no spines; bracts inconspicuous. 



* Leaves relatively large (2-3 cm. in breadth). 



8. A. Livinus L. Stem fleshy, red ; leaves emarginate, ovate 

 or obovate, 2-4 cm. long, on petioles two thirds as long; bracts 

 very short; utricle thin, smooth. — About Atlantic ports, not very 

 common. Fig. 722. (Adv. from Trop. Am.) 



9. A. viRiDis L. Similar, but with a warty 

 utricle. — About Atlantic poits; aLso reported in 

 O. Fig. 723. (Adv. from Trop. Am.) 



* * Leaves smaller. 



T22. A. lividu.s. 



Calyx and utricle 



XS. 



723. A. viiidis. 

 Calyx and utricle 



X .3. 



10. A. pumilus Raf. Low or prostrate; leaves fleshy and 



obovate, emarginate, strongly nerved; flower-clusters small and axillary; 

 stamens and sepals 5, the latter half the length of the obscurely 5-ribbed fruit. 

 — Sandy beaches, R. L to N. C. 



11. A. DKFLExus L. Low, spreading ; leaves ovate, thin, flat ; spikes chiefly 

 terminal, thicki.sh, bluntly cordate ; utricle ovoid, smooth, 5-nerved, much 

 longer than the sepals. — Waste land near the larger Atlantic ports. (Adv. 

 from Eu.) 



12. A. CRfspus (Lesp. & Th^v.) A. Br. Very slender, procumbent, pubes- 

 cent ; leaves small, light green, rhombic-ovate to -lanceolate, acute, the margin 

 crisped and undulate ; flowers in small axillary clusters ; bracts and sepals 

 scarious, oblanceolate, acute or obtuse ; utricle about as long, roughened, neither 



