PLATE 310. 
Amaranths spinosus, Linn. (Fl. Brit. India, Vol. IV., p. 718). 
Natural Order, Amaeantaceae. 
Herbaceous, annual. Rootstock, pink. Stems erect or spreading, glabrous 
and shining ; 1 to 2 feet long, green, or sometimes coloured reddish, especially in 
axils of the leaves. Spines axillary, pungent, ^ to I inch long or more. Leaves 
alternate, petiolate, exstipulate, ovate to oblong-ovate, tapering to an obtuse apex, 
cuneate at base, margins entire, undulate, veins pinnate, pink, prominent beneath, 
sunk on upper surface, which has usually two rows of dull greyish green markings, 
which form two sides of a triangle, the angle pointing to apex of the leaf, 
glabrous; 1 to 4 inches long, f to 2 inches wide; petiole 1 to 3 inches long, 
deeply channelled above, dull pink. Flowers unisexual, small, in small axillary 
clusters on lower portion of the stem, or ia densely flowered spikes composed of 
numerous clusters in upper portion, the spikes erect or drooping, the female 
flowers in lower portion of the spike, male flowers in upper portion. Bracts 
setaceous from a broad base, longer than sepals, with dark green keel. Sepals of 
female flowers 5, ovate apiculate, of male flowers ovate acuminate. Stamens in 
male flowers 5, filaments connate at base, anthers oblong, 2-celled. Styles in 
female flowers short or 0 ; stigmas 3, subulate. Ovary I -celled, 1-ovuled. Fruit 
2-beaked, splitting across the middle (circumscissile). Seeds small, orbicular, 
compressed, black and shining. 
Habitat : Natal: Coast and Midlands, near Durban, 100 feet alt., November, 
Wood, 1872. 
Drawn and described from specimens gathered near Durban, November, 1903. 
This genus contains 40 to 50 species, many of which are well known in culti- 
vation. In Natal we have 3 species only, all troublesome weeds ; the one here 
described is now ({uite; naturalised in the colony, and is known in most tropical 
countries. It was introduced into Natal most probably about the time of the Zulu 
war, and is a most obnoxious weed, for two reasons ; first, on account of the 
abundance of seed produced, even in the early stages of its growth, and next by 
its sharp spines, which make it unpleasant to handle. All our species are known 
to the natives as Imbuya, and the leaves and young stems of at least two of the 
species are boiled and eaten as a vegetable. 
Fig. 1, bract; 2, female flower; 3, male flower; 4, utricle; 5. seed; all 
enlarged. 
