Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read more about Spiny Amaranth at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 066-03-006:
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
COMMON NAME:
Spiny Amaranth
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_amsp_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm130128_172
January Spartanburg County SC
Stems with paired nodal spines, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
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Keith Bradley kab_a_spinosus_75384
June Miami-Dade County FL
Krome Bird Refuge
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Keith Bradley kab_a_spinosus_75400
June Miami-Dade County FL
Krome Bird Refuge
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_amaranthus_spinosus
June
Simple or compound terminal staminate spikes, usually green to silvery green, per Flora of North America.
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JK Marlow jkm130928_680
September Spartanburg County SC
Plant freely branched, robust, 5dm or more tall, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 066-03-006:
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
3582
Forb
Annual
Monoecious
Non-native: Tropical America
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common
Look for it in fields, gardens, roadsides, barnyards, pastures, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems armed with paired stipular nodal spines
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Margins entire
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Green to silvery-green
Unisexual
1-5 sepals (or sepals absent) subtended by 3 bracts
Petals absent
Flowers in terminal thyrses
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Utricle
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p462
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p074