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Practical ecological knowledge for the temperate reader. |
Family: Amaranthaceae - Amaranth
Annual (short-lived perennial herb); monoecious or dioecious.
± 70 species: worldwide; weeds, ornamentals, food plants. (Greek: unfading, non-withering) [Costea et al. 2001 Sida 19:931–974, 975–992; Sauer 1967 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 54:103–137] Hybrids common, F1 generally with numerous, densely packed bractlets beneath generally sterile pistillate flowers, abnormal-shaped inflorescence with dense, twisted or fan-shaped branches. Unless otherwise noted, descriptions of bracts and flower parts are of pistillate flowers.
Unabridged references: [Sauer 1955 Madroño 13:5–46]
Unabridged note: F1 hybrids have been observed in natural conditions or have been experimentally obtained between any of the following species: Amaranthus hybridus, Amaranthus powellii, Amaranthus retroflexus, Amaranthus tuberculatus, Amaranthus palmeri, Amaranthus caudatus, Amaranthus hypochondriacus, Amaranthus cruentus, Amaranthus spinosus, Amaranthus blitoides, Amaranthus albus. Amaranthus caudatus L., Amaranthus cruentus L., Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. frequently cultivated as ornamentals, occasionally escaping from cultivation. Amaranthus spinosus L. probably not naturalized, uncommon waif.
[Jepson]
Amaranthus sp. - Amaranthaceae
Chemical/Part/Loppm/Hippm/Reference
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General: "Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect or ascending, several, glabrous to short-hairy, branching basally forming a rounded plant to 1 m tall, tending to break off at the base at maturity and then behaving as a "tumbleweed"." [IFBC-E-flora]
Habitat / Range: "Dry disturbed areas and waste places in the montane zone; infrequent in S BC; throughout N. America, S. America and the Old World." [IFBC-E-flora]
Status: Exotic [E-flora]
General: "Annual herb from a taproot; stems prostrate or decumbent, several, glabrous to short-hairy, 30-70 cm tall." [IFBC-E-flora]
Prostrate Amaranth, Amaranthus blitoides, which is found as a weed from Maine to North Dakota, south to New Jersey, Missouri, and Kansas, and is native west of the Rocky Mountains. [EWP]
Status: Exotic [E-flora]
General: "Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, simple to freely branched, 0.3-2.0 m tall, grooved, often reddish, glabrous to short-hairy or sparsely hairy below the flowers." [IFBC-E-flora]
General: "Annual herb; stems 50-100 cm tall, simple to freely branched, long-hairy with dandruff-like scales below the flowers." [IFBC-E-flora]
"The redroot amaranth can be easily mistaken for other pigweeds, mostly for the Powell’s amaranth (Amaranthus powellii), which it resembles with its spikelike, elongated inflorescence. What separates them is mostly the conspicuous hairiness of the stems and leaves of the redroot amaranth, as opposed to the scarcely (if at all) hairy Powell’s amaranth. When young or under poor growing conditions, the redroot amaranth might resemble the other two introduced pigweeds, the mat amaranth (Amaranthus blitoides) and white pigweed (Amaranthus albus). In these species, though, the leaves are much smaller and the inflorescences develop in small clusters in the axils of the leaves."
"Some of the members of the Goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae) family might be mistaken from a distance for the redroot amaranth, such as lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album) or French spinach (Atriplex hortensis). However, these plants have smoother and thinner leaves, mostly wavy, all being hairless and powdery. Their inflorescences are not prickly, as in the redroot amaranth, but rather fleshy in the lamb’s quarters or sandwiched between a pair of leafy bracts in the French spinach."
"The redroot amaranth might occasionally be mistaken for the red-listed wedgescale saltbush (Atriplex truncata), which can grow in similar habitat conditions, in dry roadsides and waste places. It has wedged and greenish inflorescences, but they develop in the axils of the leaves. This species can be easily differentiated based on the grayish, not grass-green leaves. The whole plant is mealy coated and much more slender than the redroot amaranth."
Note Author Anna-Mária Csergo, February 2011.
[E-flora]
Redroot Amaranth – Amaranthus Retroflexus
Part: | Leaf | Per 100 g fresh weight (water content not given) |
Food Energy (Kcal) | 35 | Ash (g) | - | Potassium (mg) | 411-617 |
Water (g) | - | Thiamine (mg) | - | Magnesium (mg) | - |
Protein (g) | - | Riboflavin (mg) | - | Calcium (mg) | 267-448 |
Fat (g) | - | Niacin (micrograms) | 1,300 | Phosphorus (mg) | - |
Carbohydrate (g) | - | Vitamin C (mg) | 53-80 | Sodium (mg) | - |
Crude Fiber (g) | - | Vitamin A (micrograms) | 4,300 | Iron (mg) | - |
Zinc (mg) | - | Manganese (mg) | - | Copper (mg) | - |
Redroot Amaranth – Amaranthus Retroflexus
Part: | Seed | Per 100 g fresh weight (water content not given) |
Food Energy (Kcal) | 358 | Ash (g) | - | Potassium (mg) | 52.5 |
Water (g) | - | Thiamine (mg) | - | Magnesium (mg) | - |
Protein (g) | - | Riboflavin (mg) | - | Calcium (mg) | 247 |
Fat (g) | - | Niacin (mg) | - | Phosphorus (mg) | 500 |
Carbohydrate (g) | - | Vitamin C (mg) | - | Sodium (mg) | - |
Crude Fiber (g) | - | Vitamin A (RE) | - | Iron (mg) | - |
Zinc (mg) | - | Manganese (mg) | - | Copper (mg) | - |
Phytoremediation: Amaranthus retroflexus showed high bioaccumulations factors but showed low biomass compared to other species and thus weak phytoextraction. Pesticide concentration decreased in the rhizosphere soil 11-24% more in treatments with fertilizer compared to treatments without fertilizer.[OPPPS]