380 AMARANTACK/E. ( AMARANTH FAMILY.) 



fuse stems, alternate mostly petiolcd entire mucronatc 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 J'-l' long. 



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

 5 : leaves long-petioled. 



2. A. Chlorostaehys, Willd. 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- 

 mucronatc, the pale veins prominent beneath ; spikes numerous, paniclcd, 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 inibhisccnt, 

 and the (green) sepals longer than the bracts. 



1. E. lividllS, Moqnin. Stem erect, branched, succulent, green, red, or 

 purple ; leaves long petiolcd, ovate, OhtUSC 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, 

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

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

 July- Sept. Q) — Stem l°-3° high. Leaves, with the petiole, 3'-b' long 





