380 AMARANTACE^E. (AMARANTH FAMILY.) 



fuse stems, alternate mostly petioled entire mucronate leaves, and greenish or 

 purplish flowers, crowded in axillary and terminal spikes or clusters. Bracts 

 longer than the sepals. 



* Flowers in small axillary clusters : sepals and stamens 3. 



1 . A. albus, L. Stem erect, branching from the base, smooth ; leaves 

 small, long-petioled, oblong-obovate, very obtuse or emarginate, wavy at the 

 margins ; clusters shorter than the petioles ; sepals awl-pointed, much shorter 

 than the subulate spine-pointed spreading bracts, and half as long as the rugose 

 utricle. Cultivated grounds, Florida, and northward. May - Sept. Stem 1 

 high. Leaves ' - 1' long. 



* * Flowers (green] crowded in terminal and axillary spikes: sepals and stamens 

 \ 5 : leaves long-petioled. 



2. A. Chlorostachys, "VVilld. Stem erect, furrowed, pubescent-; leaves 

 ovate or rhombic-ovate, obtuse, or the upper ones acute, short-mucronate, the 

 veins beneath, like the petiole, pubescent ; spikes very numerous, forming a long 

 leafy and more or less dense panicle ; sepals lanceolate, acute, scarcely half as 

 long as the subulate bracts, shorter than the rugose utricle. Cultivated grounds, 

 common. Aug. and Sept. Stem 2 - 4 high. Leaves 2' - 4' long, twice as 

 long as the petiole. 



3. A. hybridus, L. Smooth or nearly so ; stem erect, branching ; leaves 

 thin, ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse, notched, or tapering at the apex, long- 

 mucronate, the pale veins prominent beneath ; spikes numerous, panicled, the 

 terminal one elongated, the lower axillary ones short and roundish ; sepals ob- 

 long, acuminate, rather shorter than the subulate bracts, and equalling the 

 slightly rugose utricle. Cultivated grounds, Florida, and northward. Aug. 

 and Sept. ' Stem 2 - 3 high. Leaves 2' - 5' long. 



4. A. spinosus, L. Smooth ; stem stout, succulent, often purplish ; leaves 

 ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or emarginate, long-petioled, often blotched with 

 purple, spiny in the axils ; terminal spike elongated, bending, the lower axillary 

 ones short and roundish ; sepals, bracts, and rugose utricle nearly equal. 

 Fields and waste places, Florida, and northward. July - Oct. Stem l-3 

 high. 



3. EUXOLUS, Raf. 



Characters chiefly of Amarantus ; but the somewhat fleshy utricle indehiscent, 

 and the (green) sepals longer than the bracts. 



1. E. lividus, Moquin. Stem erect, branched, succulent, green, red, or 

 purple ; leaves long-petioled, ovate, obtuse or notched at the apex ; spikes 

 dense-flowered ; the terminal one longest, acute, with several shorter ones 

 crowded near its base, the lowest axillary ones much shorter than the petiole ; 

 sepals 3, shorter than the roundish acute rugose utricle, and 3 times as long 

 as the bracts. (Amarantus lividus, L.) South Florida to South Carolina. 

 July - Sept. (I) Stem 1 - 3 high. Leaves, with the petiole, 3' - 6' long. 



