• Habit -Usually herbs or suffrutescent shrubs,

sometimes succulent; usually with concentric rings of vascular bundles

General General Characteristics: Characteristics:

Amaranth Family ( Greek “unfading”, from the persistent bracts and perianth)

consists of annual or perennial, hermaphroditic, dioecious, monoecious, or polygamous herbs, vines, shrubs, or rarely trees.

Stems are sometimes jointed or succulent

leaves are simple, spiral or opposite, exstipulate, succulent, alternate or reduced in some taxa

infloresence is of solitary flowers or a spike, panicle, cyme, or thryse, with bracts and bracteoles bristle-like and pigmented in some taxa

Showing alternate leaves

Pleuropetalum darwinii

flowers are small, bisexual or unisexual, usually actinomorphic, hypogynous or rarely epihypogynous

perianth is uniseriate (usually termed a calyx)

stamens have generally the same number as the sepals and antisepalous, distinct or basally connate and forming a tube

Blutaparon vermicumelare

Inflorescence

Inflorescence

Branch

Branch

Flower

Androecium

Gynoecium

Blutaparon vermiculare

inflorescence

Top two flowers in two levels and uncinate bracts

Open flower

Cyathula prostata

Cyathula achyranthoides

top with flowers in one layer only and uncinate bracteoles

Open flower

inflorescence

Cyathula prostata

Cyathula achyranthoides

anthers are longitudinal in dehiscence, dithecal or monothecal

gynoecium is unicarpellous or syncarpous, with a superior, rarely half-interior ovary and one locule

style(s) are one to several

Iresine sp.

placentation is basal

ovules are campylotropous or amphitropous, bitegmic

nectaries are present in some, typically in annular disc

fruit is a nutlet, berry, irregularly dehiscing capsule, or rarely a circumscissile capsule or multiple fruit

seeds are mostly starchy-perispermous with curved embryo

Kingdom: PlantaePhylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Caryophyllales

Family: Amaranthaceae

Species of Amaranthaceae belong to 163 plant genera.

7,717 scientific plant names of species rank for the family Amaranthaceae. Of these 1,825 are accepted species names.

The status of the 9,607 names (including infraspecific names) for the family Amaranthaceae recorded, are as follows:

SPECIES NAMES ALL NAMES

Status Total % Total %

Accepted 1825 23.6% 2003 20.8%

Synonym 3320 43% 4975 51.8%

unplaced 320 4.10% 322 3.4%

unassessed 2252 29.20% 2307 23.7%

Celosia argenteaAerva javanica

Achyranthes, Achyropsis, Acnida, Aerva, Allmania, Alternanthera, Amaranthus, Arthraerua, Blutaparon, Bosea, Brayulinea, Calicorema, Celosia, Centema, Centemopsis, Centrostachys, Chamissoa, Charpentiera, Chionothrix, Cyathula, Dasysphaera, Dasysphaera, Deeringia, Digera, Eriostylos, Froelichia, Gomphrena, Gossypianthus, Guilleminea, Hebanthe, Hemichroa (~ Chenopodiaceae), Henonia, Herbstia, Hermbstaedtia, Indobanalia, Irenella, Iresine, Kyphocarpa, Lagrezia, Leucosphaera , Lithophila, Lopriorea, Marcelliopsis, Mechowia, Nelsia, Neocentema, Nothosaerva, Nototrichium, Nyssanthes, Pandiaka, Pfaffia, Philoxerus, Pleuropetalum, Pleuropterantha, Polyrhabda, Pseudogomphrena, Pseudoplantago, Pseudosericocoma, Psilotrichopsis, Psilotrichum, Ptilotus, Pupalia, Quaternella, Rosifax, Saltia, Sericocoma, Sericocomopsis, Sericorema, Sericostachys, Siamosia, Stilbanthus, Tidestromia, Trichuriella, Volkensinia, Woehleria, Xerosiphon.

Atriplex- 250 species

Atriplex canescens Atriplex elegans

Gomphrena serrata Gomphrena globosa

Salsola oppositifolia Salsola tragus

Alternanthera caracasana Alternanthera philoxeroides

Chenopodium capitatum Chenopodium polyspermum

Ptilotus obovatus Ptilotus exaltatus

Suaeda maritima Suaeda esteroa

Iresine herbstii

Amaranthus caudatus Amaranthus tricolor

Corispermum leptopterum

Celosia spicata Celosia cristata

Almost all flowers of most species of Amaranthaceae produce nectar and are insect-pollinated, except for Genus Amaranthus with about 50 species, whose flowers are wind  pollinated and do not make nectar.

largely distributed worldwide, members common in some deserts, estuarine or alkaline regions, tropical areas and some temperate regions.

The major threats to Amaranthaceae are habitat degradation and destruction by cattle and feral goats, competition with alien plant species, and a risk of extinction from naturally occurring events like landslides and hurricanes.

Achyranthes atollensis(Hawaii Chaff Flower) Status: Extinct  

Avhyranthes mutica(Blunt Chaff Flower) Status: Critically Endangered   Pop. trend: stable

Achyranthes splendens(Round-leaved Chaff Flower) Status: Vulnerable   Pop. trend: decreasing

Achyranthes splendens

Also known as Maui Chaff Flower

Achyranthes talbotii Status: Vulnerable   Pop. trend: decreasing

Aerva microphyllaStatus: Least Concern     Pop. trend: unknown

Aerva revolutaStatus: Least Concern     Pop. trend: unknown

Aerva revoluta

Alternanthera areschougiiStatus: Vulnerable  

Alternanthera corymbiformis Status: Vulnerable  

Alternanthera filifolia Status: Lower Risk/least concern    

Alternanthera flavicomaStatus: Vulnerable  

Alternanthera galapagensisStatus: Vulnerable  

Alternanthera grandisStatus: Vulnerable  

Alternanthera filifolia

Alternanthera helleriStatus: Vulnerable  

Alternanthera nesiotes Status: Endangered  

Alternanthera snodgrassiiStatus: Vulnerable  

Amaranthus anderssoniStatus: Data Deficient    

Amaranthus brownii (Brown's Pigweed) Status: Critically Endangered    

Pop. trend: unknown

Brown's Pigweed

Amaranthus furcatusStatus: Data Deficient    

Amaranthus sclerantoidesStatus: Lower Risk/least concern    

Blutaparon rigidumStatus: Extinct    

Cyathula fernando-poensis Status: Vulnerable  

Froelichia junceaStatus: Vulnerable  

Froelichia nudicaulis Status: Vulnerable  

Irenella chrysotricha Status: Endangered   Froelichia juncea

Iresine pedicellataStatus: Vulnerable  

Lithophila radicataStatus: Lower Risk/near threatened    

Lithophila subscaposa Status: Vulnerable  

Pleuropetalum darwiniiStatus: Vulnerable  

Psilotrichum aphyllumStatus: Endangered  

Psilotrichum axilliflorumStatus: Vulnerable  

Alternanthera tenella, joy weed

Amaranthus spinosus, spiny amaranth.

Celosia argentea, cockscomb.

Charpentiera tomentosa, papala.

The leaves and/ or roots of a few species, such as Beta vulgaris (beet, Swiss chard), Chenopodium spp. ( lamb’s quarters, goosefoot), and Amaranthus spp. (pigweed) are eaten.

Beta vulgaris( Beet, Swiss chard)

Spinaceae oleracea( spinach )

Chenopodium sp.

Amaranthus spp.

The seeds of several South American species of Chenopodium and Amaranthus are used to make flour.

The family includes a few ornamentals, including Celosia (cockscomb), Gomphrena (globe Amaranth), and Iresine (bloodleaf).

Celosia sp. (cockscomb) Gomphrena sp. (Globe amaranth)

Ex Situ :

Amaranthaceae has been successfully

propagated at the National Tropical Botanic

Gardens where, in 1997, more than hundreds of

seeds were in storage and about plants were in

cultivation.

In situ A fence constructed by one landowner proved

successful in protecting one plant from grazing cattle in an a certain area. The construction of additional exclosures is recommended to reduce the impact from domestic cattle and feral goats. Removal of cattle to locations away from the preferred habitat of the Amaranthaceae is recommended, as are various methods of feral goat/cattle removal.