FoI
Green Amaranth
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Green Amaranth
aturalized Photo: Dinesh Valke
Common name: Green Amaranth, Pigweed, Prince of Wales feather, slender amaranth, tropical green amaranth • Hindi: जंगली चौलाई Jungli chaulayi, चेंच की भाजी Chench ki bhaji • Kannada: ಕೆರೆಸೊಪ್ಪು Kere soppu, ದಗ್ಗಿಸೊಪ್ಪು Daggi soppu • Konkani: रानभाजी ranbhaji • Malayalam: കുപ്പച്ചീര kuppacheera • Manipuri: ꯂꯝ ꯆꯦꯡꯀ꯭ꯔꯨꯛ Lam chengkruk • Marathi: माठ math, उनाडभाजी unadabhaji • Sanskrit: तण्डुलीयः tanduliya • Tamil: குப்பைக்கீரை kuppai-k-kirai • Telugu: చిలక తోటకూర chilaka-thotakoora • Nepali: लुँडे साग Lunde Saag, लट्टे साग Latte Saag, लुण्डे Lunde, सेतो लुँडे Seto Lunde • Mizo: Lenhling-hling-nei-lo
Botanical name: Amaranthus viridis    Family: Amaranthaceae (Amaranth family)
Synonyms: Amaranthus gracilis, Amaranthus polystachyus, Euxolus viridis

Green Amaranth is an annual herb with stems erect or occasionally ascending, 10-80 cm long. Stems are sparingly to densely branched, channeled. Leaves are triangular-ovate to narrowly rhombic, 2-7 cm long, 1.5-5.5 cm wide, hairless, tip usually narrow and with a small narrow notch, stalks 1-10 cm long. Flowers are green, in slender, paniculate spikes, in leaf axils or at the end of branches. Both sexes are mixed throughout the spikes, but female flowers are more numerous, bracts and bracteoles whitish, triangular-ovate to broadly lanceshaped, membranous, with a short, pale or reddish awn; sepals are 3, those of staminate flowers ovate-oblong, 1.5 mm long, tip pointed, mucronate, those of pistillate flowers narrowly spoon-shaped to oblong, 1.3-1.8 mm long, tip more or less mucronate; stigmas 2-3. Fruit is nearly round, 1.3-1.5 mm, not or only slightly exceeding the sepals. Green Amaranth is native to South America, widely naturalized in the Tropical World.

Identification credit: Rani Bhagat, Santhosh Kumar Photographed in Thane, Maharashtra & Delhi.

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