324 



EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN. 



THE PRICKLY PIGWEEDS. AMARANTH FAMILY. AMARANTHACEAE. 



Weedy herbs; flowers greenish-white, minute, surrounded by prickly bracts or scales, often colored. 

 A small family including about 425 species, mostly ^growing in tropical regions. 



Fig. 57 (54). 



Western Water Hemp. Acnida tubercu- 

 lata Moq. An erect, slender, dioecious annual, 

 30-90 cm. high; leaves lanceolate or rhombic- 

 ovate, usually acute, 4-12 cm. long; spikes 

 mostly loose or interrupted; flowers surrounded 

 by soft prickly bracts. Frequent along the 

 Grand River Valley. Native to this country. 



Some plants of this species are prostrate but 

 seeds of the prostrate do not all of them produce 

 prostrate forms. 



Fig. 58 (55). 



Prostrate Amaranth. Amaranthus blitoi- 

 des S. Wats. A smooth, pale green, much- 

 branched, prostrate annual, 12-60 cm. or more 

 long; leaves obovate or spatulate, 0.5-2 cm. 

 long. In waste places, especially along rail- 

 roads. Naturalized from the west. 



