Family |
Amaranthaceae
Amaranthus hybridus
L.
Amaranthus hybridus L.
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. CL nº 2 – 4; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit : Robust annual 30 – 100 cm tall, erect, green or red-tinged, usually single-stemmed but sometimes sparingly branched; stem and foliage ± pubescent.
Leaves : Long-petiolate, ovate- to rhomboid-oval; colour variable—wholly green, green suffused red, or entirely dark red-purple; blades glabrous or nearly so.
Inflorescence : Axillary glomerules aggregated into several spikes that together form an erect to slightly nodding terminal panicle; terminal spike usually a little inclined but never pendulous.
Bracts & bracteoles : Bracteoles broadly oval at the base, prolonged into a stiff spine; their length varies with the infraspecific taxa.
Flowers : Most often 5-merous, occasionally 3- or 4-merous; sepals oblong-lanceolate, finely acuminate; perianth segments narrower and shorter than the fruit.
Fruit : Ellipsoid-compressed pyxidium; seeds black, shining.
Flowering and habitat
Flowering period : May – December in the Levant.
Habitat : Nitrophilous weed of fields, gardens, cultivated ground, and waste places.
Distribution
Native range : Sub-cosmopolitan; probably native to tropical America. In Lebanon and Syria it is widely naturalised from the coast (Beirut, Nahr Damour, Tyr) through foothill villages (Bikfaya, Jezzine, Ksara) to cooler mid-mountain localities such as Qrayé, Ehden and Jabal Qartaba.