View source for Amaranthus blitum

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Amaranthus blitum
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=2: 990. 1753
|year=1753
}}
|common_names=Purple amaranth;livid amaranth
|basionyms=
|synonyms={{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Amaranthus ascendens
|authority=Loiseleur
}} {{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Amaranthus lividus
|authority=Linnaeus
}}
|hierarchy=Amaranthaceae;Amaranthus;Amaranthus subg. Albersia;Amaranthus blitum
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Amaranthaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Amaranthus]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>subgenus</small>[[Amaranthus subg. Albersia]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>species</small>[[Amaranthus blitum]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 4
|mention_page=page 413, 414, 428
|treatment_page=page 429
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Plants </b>annual, glabrous. <b>Stems</b> ascending to prostrate, sometimes erect, simple or branched, sometimes radiating from base and forming mats, 0.1–0.6 m. <b>Leaves</b>: petiole usually equaling to 2 times as long as blade; blade ovate or obovate, 1–6 × 0.5–4 cm, base tapering or cuneate, margins entire, plane, apex distinctly emarginate to almost bilobate, mucronate. <b>Inflorescences</b> slender terminal spikes or panicles and also axillary clusters, in some forms only axillary clusters are present; spikes erect or sometimes reflexed, green, leafless at least distally. <b>Bracts</b> of pistillate flowers lanceolate, inconspicuous, 0.5 mm, shorter than tepals. <b>Pistillate</b> flowers: tepals 3, elliptic or spatulate, not clawed, equal or subequal, 0.8–1.5 mm, margins entire, apex broadly acute; style branches erect; stigmas 3. <b>Staminate</b> flowers clustered at tips of spikes; tepals 3; stamens 3. <b>Utricles</b> compressed, subglobose to obovate, 1.2–2.5(–3) mm, exceeding tepals, smooth or faintly rugose, indehiscent. <b>Seeds</b> black or dark reddish brown, subglobose or broadly lenticular, (0.8–)1–1.8 mm diam., smooth, shiny, filling fruit almost completely.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|phenology=Flowering summer–fall (almost year-round in tropics, subtropics).
|habitat=Waste places, fields, roadsides, other disturbed habitats
|elevation=0-1000 m
|distribution=Ont.;Que.;Ala.;Calif.;Fla.;Ga.;La.;Md.;Mass.;Miss.;N.H.;N.J.;N.Y.;N.C.;Ohio;Pa.;S.C.;Tex.;Utah;Va.;Central America;South America;Eurasia;Africa.
|discussion=<p>The name <i>Amaranthus</i> lividus has been widely used for <i>A. blitum</i>, in addition to other Linnaean names (see F. Fillias et al. 1980; J. P. M. Brenan and C. C. Townsend 1980; R. K. Brummitt 1984). <i>Amaranthus blitum</i> is of tropical origin and not common in temperate regions. It has been cultivated in Europe as a minor leaf-vegetable crop, but now it is declining and its range is becoming progressively smaller. In many temperate countries (in particular in Europe), <i>A. blitum</i> persists mostly as an uncommon and sporadic weed in greenhouses, ornamental gardens, and flower beds.</p><!--
--><p>In Europe, it may be possible to distinguish two or three subspecies within <i>Amaranthus blitum</i>. The occurrence and distribution of infraspecific taxa of the <i>A. blitum</i> complex is insufficiently known in North America and requires additional floristic and taxonomic studies, although it appears that the most common is subsp. polygonoides (Moquin-Tandon) Cattetero. Some literature records of <i>A. blitum</i> from southern regions of North America are misidentifications of <i>A. viridis</i>, and vice versa; because of that the distributions of these two species in the flora area require critical reassessment.</p>
|tables=
|references=
}}<!--

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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Amaranthus blitum
|author=
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=species
|parent rank=subgenus
|synonyms=Amaranthus ascendens;Amaranthus lividus
|basionyms=
|family=Amaranthaceae
|phenology=Flowering summer–fall (almost year-round in tropics, subtropics).
|habitat=Waste places, fields, roadsides, other disturbed habitats
|elevation=0-1000 m
|distribution=Ont.;Que.;Ala.;Calif.;Fla.;Ga.;La.;Md.;Mass.;Miss.;N.H.;N.J.;N.Y.;N.C.;Ohio;Pa.;S.C.;Tex.;Utah;Va.;Central America;South America;Eurasia;Africa.
|introduced=true
|reference=None
|publication title=Sp. Pl.
|publication year=1753
|special status=
|source xml=https://jpend@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/f6b125a955440c0872999024f038d74684f65921/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V4/V4_838.xml
|genus=Amaranthus
|subgenus=Amaranthus subg. Albersia
|species=Amaranthus blitum
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Amaranthus subg. Albersia]]