Amarauiits. AMARANTACE.E. 4]^ 



form lilaiucnts aiul 2-colle(l aiitlicrs ; staminodia none. Stigmas 2 or 3, linear and 



sessile. Utricle 1 -seeded, ovate, 2 - 3-1)eaked, circumscissile (or indeliiscent in 



§ Euxolus), often deciduous with the perianth. — Annual weeds, with alternate 



loaves decurrent upon tlio slender petiole and apiculate with a short setaceous 



mucro ; flowers green or purplish, in axillary or spiked clusters or si)ikelets. Stam- 



inate flowers usually mingled with the more numerous pistillate ones. — Amblo- 



gyne & Euxolus, IJaf. Sarratia, Motpiin. ^fen(/ea, Schauer. Sclerojnis, Sclirad. 



A gomis of wiile range, some of the species very widely difTused as weeds about cultivated 

 grounds. Among the Indians of Arizona several are cultivated for their abundant seeds. The 

 specific diflerenees are often obscure and badly defined, so that the numlwr of actual species is very 

 uncertain. The views of IJenth.im (Fl. Australicnsis, v. 212) are adopted respecting Amblogync, 

 and there seems also to be no suliicient reason for retiiining Mengca as a distinct genus. 



* Scjmis distinct, oblong-lanceolate, erect : flowers monoicions. 



+- Flowers in naked terminal and. axillanj mostly panidcd sjiikes : sepals 5: 

 stems usually stout and erect, tvith large lo7ig-petioled leaves. — Euamarantus. 



1. A. retroflexus, Linn. Dull green, 1 to G feet high, roughish and more or 

 less pubescent, .simple or branched : loaves ovate or rhombic-ovate, acute or acumi- 

 nate, 1 to 3 (or often 4 to G) inches long, not including the somewhat shorter petiole : 

 flowers green, in thick erect or scarcely spreading crowded axillary and terminal 

 spikes: bracts lanceolate, attenuate to a rigid awn, 1^ to 3 linos long: sepals 1 to 

 1^ lines long, narrowly oblong, acute or obtuse, or mucronate, at length deciduous 

 with the ha.se of the circumscissile utricle : seed ^ line broad. — ^[(xpiin, DC. Prodr. 

 \\\\\ 258. 



From Mexico to British America, only as an introduced weed northward ; cultivated by the 

 Arizona Indians. It is also conunon through most of Europe, but probably not native. Dis- 

 tinguished by the thick erect s|)ikes. 



2. A. chlorostachys, Willd. Spikes more slender than in the last, linoar- 

 cylindric, more or loss iloxuous, the lateral ones spreading or divaricate : whole 

 plant usually deeper green : the leaves ovate or rhombic-ovate, obtuse or acutish : 

 sei)als more fre<piently acute or acuminate. — Moquin, 1. c. 259. A. retroflexus, 

 var. chlorostachys, Gray, ^lanual, 412. 



Of like range and widely naturalized, but not yet certainly found in California. A. panicula- 

 Ins, Linn., may al.so occur in gardens, with numerous slender panicled spikes, the flowers and 

 often the leaves tinged with purple. 



+- +- Flowers in very small axillary spikes or clysters : sepals 1 to 3 : stems low 

 or j}rostrate, with smaller leaves. — Pyxidium, Moquin. 



++ Sepals three. 



3. A, albus, Linn. Erect or ascending, \ to 2 feet high, diffusely brancho.l 

 from the base, glabrous or nearly so : stem light-colored : leaves pale green, oblong- 

 spatulate to obovate, Mo U inches long inchuling the slender ])otiolo, obtuse or 

 retuso, often undulate : rhachis of the 4-.5-llowored spikelots often somewhat elon- 

 gated {\ to 3 linos long) : bracts subulate, rigid, ])ungently awnod, 1 to 2\ lines 

 long, the lateral ones very much smaller or wanting : sepals 3, oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, shorter than the slightly rugose utricle : seed small, a third of a line 

 broad. — Moquin, 1. c, 264 ; Watson, Proc. Am. Acad. xii. 274. 



Near Monterey {Unrlvrcf; referred to A. Bfilum, vnr. (jrrrdznn.i, by Mofpiin, 1. c. 2()3), Snn 

 Diego (I'd/nicr), and conunon through the interior, where it is doul)tlc.s3 indigenous, and in the 

 Atlantic States ; also naturalized thioughout the; Mediterranean region. 



4. A. blitoides, Watson. Much resembling tiie last, but prostrate or decumbent, 

 the slender stems | to 2 feet long : spikelets usually contracted : bracts ovate-ob- 

 long, shortly acuminate, nearly equal, 1 to H lines long, but little exceeding the 



