526 MOXOECIA PENTANDRIA 



Ob*. This is a shrub of little or no value,— and is often rather troutlesonr 

 along iwampj rivulets, in meadows, &c. Two other species art enumerated If 

 the U. Slates, 



[Parietaria. Tetrandria Monogynia.] 



Order 5. Pentandria. 



423. AMARANTHUS. /,. 



[Gr.a, not, morotno, to fade, & Anthus,n flower; ailuding 10 the unchanging flowers.] 



Stamijtate Fl. Perianth deeply 3 or 5-parted, mostly colored, per- 

 sistent, the segments lanceolate, acute. Stamens 3, or 5. Pistillate 

 Fl. Perianth as in the staminate. Stylet 2 or 3, Capsule 1 -celled, 

 circurascissed. Seed 1. 



Herbaceous: leaves alternate; flowers mostly in clusters, axillary and terra* 

 inal. Xat. Ord. 151. LindL Amarantacea*. 



1. A. alius! /,. Stem obtusely angular, smooth, much branched; 

 leaves obovate, and spatulate-oblong, retuse, setaceously mucronate; 

 flowers triandrous, in small axillary clusters. WiUd. Sp. A. p. 382. 



White Amarantuus. 



Root annual. Stem 1 to 2 or 3 feet high, rather stout, obtusely angular, smooth, 

 pale green, or whitish, generally much branched (simple, Willi!.), the principal 

 branches spreading, or open. Leaves half an inch to an inch and half long, and 

 1 eighth to 3 fourths of an inch wide, varying from oblong to Spatu late* ovate, and 

 obovate, naked, minutely roughish-dotted, entire, emarginale, with a brittle in the 

 sinus terminating the midrib, narrowed at base to a slender petiole 1 fourth of an 

 inch to an inch and half long,— the leaves on the branches small, linear-elliptic, 

 or oblong, obtuse, setaceously mucronate. Flowers pale green, Inconspicuous, in 

 Small axillary bracteate clusters ; bracts lance-subulate, spinescenily acuminate, 

 longer than the flowers* Seed small, orbicular, somewhat compressed, with a 

 aarrow margin, smooth and shining, dark purple . 



Hab. Barnyards, and cultivated grounds : frequent. FL August. /V. Sept. 



Ob*. I have always supposed this to be the A. ulbus, and Mr. Suttall so con- 

 Slders it, —but it agrees better with the description of A. grctiizans ; which, how- 

 ever, Willdenow says is very nearly allied to A. albu*. It is given, in the books, 

 ftS a native of Pennsylvania ; and yet, to me, it has much the apj eatance of a 

 naturalized weed. Doctors Torrcy and Beck take no notice of it. 



2. A. HTBRiDus, L. Stem sulcate-angled, roughish-pubesccnt, spa- 

 ringly branched ; leaves ovate, and lance-ovate ; flowers pentandrous, 

 in dense compound axillary and terminal spikes. Jleck, Hot. p. 294. 



HviIUin AtfAIlANTHUS. 



Root annual. Stem 2 to 4 or 5 feet high, stout, sulcate-angled, somewhat hairy, 

 and branched, often nearly simple. Leaves 2 or 3 to b inches lung, and I to 3 inches 

 wide, ovate, or lance-ovate, naked, roughish-dotted, entire, tapering to the a|»ex, 

 but the point mostly obtuse, emarginatc, and setaceously mucronate, abruptly 

 narrowed at base to a petiole 1 to 3 inches in length. Ftotcers small, green, some- 

 times becoming purplish, the staminate and pistillate ones intermingled, and 

 densely clustered in ovoid-oblong compound sessile crowded spike*, axillary and 

 terminal, the terminal spike elongated and sub-cyliudric ; bracts subulate, with a 



