''Amaranthus powellii'' is a species of
amaranth
''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely pack ...
known by the common names Powell's amaranth
and green amaranth.
It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, but it is common throughout most of the rest of the temperate Americas as a
naturalized species
Naturalisation (or naturalization) is the ecological phenomenon through which a species, taxon, or population of exotic (as opposed to native) origin integrates into a given ecosystem, becoming capable of reproducing and growing in it, and procee ...
.
It has also been introduced to other continents, including Australia and Europe.
Description
This is an erect annual herb growing to a maximum height near two meters. It has leaves up to 9 centimeters long, those on the upper part of the plant lance-shaped and lower on the stem diamond or roughly oval in shape. The
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
holds several long, narrow clusters of both male and female flowers interspersed with spiny green
bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...
s. The fruit is a smooth
dehiscent
Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that op ...
capsule about 3 millimeters long containing shiny reddish black seeds.
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
powellii
Flora of North America
Taxa named by Sereno Watson
{{Amaranthaceae-stub