Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
Go to FSUS key
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 Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Amaranthus spinosus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Amaranthus spinosus
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 066-03-006:
Amaranthus spinosus FAMILY Amaranthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Amaranthus spinosus
COMMON NAME:
Spiny Amaranth
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_amsp_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm130128_172
January Spartanburg County SC
Stems with paired nodal spines, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
Keith Bradley kab_a_spinosus_75384
June Miami-Dade County FL
Krome Bird Refuge
)
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.
)
JK Marlow jkm130928_680
September Spartanburg County SC
Plant freely branched, robust, 5dm or more tall, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Amaranthus spinosus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Amaranthus spinosus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 066-03-006:
Amaranthus spinosus
FAMILY
Amaranthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Amaranthus spinosus
3582
Forb
Annual
Monoecious
Habitat: Fields, gardens, roadsides, barnyards, pastures, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: tropical America
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems armed with paired stipular nodal spines
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Margins entire
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Green to silvery-green
1-5 sepals (or sepals absent) subtended by 3 bracts
Petals absent
Unisexual
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 (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p462
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p025
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p074
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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