Amaranthus muricatus explained

Amaranthus muricatus, the so-called African amaranth, is a species in the genus Amaranthus native to South America; Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. It is an invasive species in Africa, Europe and Australia, and to a lesser degree in North America and Asia.^[1] It is a decumbent perennial that does well in arid climates.^[2]

A. muricatus may grow to about 60 cm tall. Its glabrous leaves are linear to lanceolate, about 2-5 cm long, with long petioles.^[3] Small flowers are produced on compact, pyramidal panicles.^[4] These flowers, which appear in summer and fall, produce wrinkled achenes, about 2 mm long, containing semiglossy, black, lenticular seeds that are typically 1-1.2 mm in diameter.^{[5] [6]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Amaranthus muricatus (Gillies ex Moq.) Hieron. . . 2017 . Plants of the World Online . Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 18 September 2020.
2. Escudero . N.L. . Albarracín . G. . Fernández . S. . De Arellano . L.M. . Mucciarelli . S. . 1999 . Nutrient and antinutrient composition of Amaranthus muricatus . Plant Foods for Human Nutrition . 54 . 4 . 327–336 . 10.1023/A:1008149721435 . 10798343 . 18987386 . 18 September 2020.
3. Web site: Mifsud . Stephen . 2002-08-23 . Amaranthus muricatus (African Amaranth): MaltaWildPlants.com - the online Flora of the Maltese Islands. . 2021-04-29 . www.maltawildplants.com . en-us.
4. Web site: Amaranthus muricatus in Global Plants on JSTOR . 2021-04-29 . plants.jstor.org.
5. Web site: Amaranthys muricatus: Rough-fruited Amaranth . April 29, 2021 . National Biodiversity Network Atlas.
6. Web site: Amaranthus muricatus (Gillies ex Moq.) Hieron . 2021-04-29 . floraofgibraltar.myspecies.info.