View source for Amaranthus caudatus

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Amaranthus caudatus
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=2: 990. 1753
|year=1753
}}
|common_names=Love-lies-bleeding;purple amaranth;foxtail amaranth;quilete
|special_status={{Treatment/ID/Special_status
|code=I
|label=Introduced
}}{{Treatment/ID/Special_status
|code=F
|label=Illustrated
}}
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Amaranthaceae;Amaranthus;Amaranthus subg. Amaranthus;Amaranthus caudatus
|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. Amaranthus]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>species</small>[[Amaranthus caudatus]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 4
|mention_page=page 405, 411, 415, 421, 423, 424
|treatment_page=page 420
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Plants </b>moderately pubescent distally, becoming glabrescent at maturity. <b>Stems</b> erect, usually green, moderately branched, rarely nearly simple, 0.5–1.5(–2.5) m. <b>Leaves</b>: petiole shorter than to equaling blade; blade rhombic-ovate, ovate, or elliptic to broadly lanceolate, 5–15(–20) × 2–10 cm, base cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to subobtuse, with mucro. <b>Inflorescences</b> terminal, drooping or nodding, usually red, purple, or white, less commonly green, silvery green, or yellow, usually much-branched at base, leafless at least distally, very large and robust. <b>Bracts</b> narrowly lanceolate to linear, equaling or subequal to tepals, not exceeding style branches, apex acuminate with excurrent midrib. <b>Pistillate</b> flowers: tepals 5, spatulate-obovate or lanceolate-obovate, not clawed, subequal, (1–)1.5–2(–2.5) mm, membranaceous, apex obtuse, slightly emarginate, or subacute with mucro; style branches spreading or reflexed; stigmas 3. <b>Staminate</b> flowers mostly at tips of inflorescences; tepals (4–)5; stamens 5. <b>Utricles</b> broadly ovoid to subglobose, 1.5–2(–2.5) mm, ± equaling tepals, dehiscence regularly circumscissile. <b>Seeds</b> dark brown to brownish black or reddish brown, yellowish white, or ivory, lenticular to subglobose, 1–1.2(–1.5) mm diam., smooth or indistinctly punctate.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|phenology=Flowering summer–fall.
|habitat=Rarely occurs as escapes, persisting near the places of cultivation
|distribution=Calif.;Conn.;Del.;Ill.;Kans.;Maine;Mass.;Mich.;Mo.;N.Y.;Oreg.;Pa.;Tenn.;Vt.;Wis.;Central America;South America;cultivated elsewhere except cold-temperate;subarctic;and arctic zones.
|introduced=true
|discussion=<p>While reported as naturalized in some states, most specimens identified as <i>Amaranthus caudatus</i> are referable to <i>A. hybridus</i> or other native species. <i>Amaranthus caudatus</i> is one of the most popular domesticated amaranths and is cultivated primarily as an ornamental, and, to a lesser degree, as a pseudocereal. Plants of <i>A. caudatus</i> may occur locally, usually close to places of cultivation and mostly in the southern regions of the flora. No reliable records of their successful naturalization are available. It is impossible at present to trace records of such ephemeral populations and individual escapes; maps and detailed distribution statements for cultivated species of amaranths are not presented here.</p><!--
--><p>The origin of <i>Amaranthus caudatus</i> remains uncertain. It is generally believed that it originated in South America or Central America from some unspecified wild race of the <i>A. hybridus</i> aggregate, probably South American A. quitensis Kunth. At least some cultivated forms and strains of <i>A. caudatus</i> probably developed with some degree of hybridization with other cultivated species. Numerous infraspecific entities that are mostly of horticultural importance have been described within <i>A. caudatus</i>. Forms with erect and robust club-shaped inflorescences have been recognized as A. mantegazzianus.</p>
|tables=
|references=
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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Amaranthus caudatus
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=species
|parent rank=subgenus
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Amaranthaceae
|phenology=Flowering summer–fall.
|habitat=Rarely occurs as escapes, persisting near the places of cultivation
|distribution=Calif.;Conn.;Del.;Ill.;Kans.;Maine;Mass.;Mich.;Mo.;N.Y.;Oreg.;Pa.;Tenn.;Vt.;Wis.;Central America;South America;cultivated elsewhere except cold-temperate;subarctic;and arctic zones.
|introduced=true
|reference=None
|publication title=Sp. Pl.
|publication year=1753
|special status=Introduced;Illustrated
|source xml=https://bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation/src/2e0870ddd59836b60bcf96646a41e87ea5a5943a/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V4/V4_823.xml
|genus=Amaranthus
|subgenus=Amaranthus subg. Amaranthus
|species=Amaranthus caudatus
}}<!--

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