General Characteristics:

Amaranth Family ( Greek Habit unfading, from the persistent -Usually herbs or suffrutescent shrubs, bracts and perianth) sometimes succulent; usually with concentric consists of annual or perennial, hermaphroditic, dioecious, monoecious, or polygamous herbs, vines, shrubs, or rarely trees.
rings of vascular bundles

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

Pleuropetalum darwinii

Showing alternate leaves

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

Flower

Branch Gynoecium

Inflorescence Branch Androecium

Blutaparon vermiculare

Cyathula achyranthoides

inflorescence Top two flowers in two levels and uncinate bracts

Open flower

Cyathula prostata

inflorescence

top with flowers in one layer only and uncinate bracteoles

Open flower

Cyathula prostata

Cyathula achyranthoides

 anthers

are longitudinal in dehiscence, dithecal or monothecal is unicarpellous or syncarpous, with a superior, rarely half-interior ovary and one locule are one to several

gynoecium

style(s)

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: Plantae Phylum: 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 Accepted Synonym unplaced unassessed

Total 1825 3320 320 2252

% 23.6% 43% 4.10% 29.20%

Total 2003 4975 322 2307

% 20.8% 51.8% 3.4% 23.7%

Celosia argentea

Aerva 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

Corispermumlepto pterum

Celosia spicata

Celosia cristata

Almost all flowers of most species of Amaranthaceae producenectarand are insectpollinated, except for Genus

Amaranthus with about 50 species, whose flowers arewind 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

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

atollensis(Hawaii Chaff

Achyranthes splendens Also known as Maui Chaff Flower

 Achyranthes

talbotii Status: Vulnerable Pop. trend: decreasing Aerva microphylla Status: Least Concern Pop. trend: unknown Aerva revoluta Status: Least Concern Pop. trend: unknown

Aerva revoluta

Alternanthera areschougii Status: Vulnerable Alternanthera corymbiformis Status: Vulnerable Alternanthera filifolia Status: Lower Risk/least concern Alternanthera flavicoma Status: Vulnerable Alternanthera galapagensis Status: Vulnerable Alternanthera grandis Status: Vulnerable

Alternanthera filifolia

 Alternanthera

helleri Status: Vulnerable Alternanthera nesiotes Status: Endangered Alternanthera snodgrassii Status: Vulnerable Brown's Pigweed Amaranthus anderssoni Status: Data Deficient Amaranthus brownii (Brown's Pigweed) Status: Critically Endangered Pop. trend: unknown

Amaranthus furcatus Status: Data Deficient Amaranthus sclerantoides Status: Lower Risk/least concern Blutaparon rigidum Status: Extinct Cyathula fernando-poensis Status: Vulnerable Froelichia juncea Status: Vulnerable Froelichia nudicaulis Status: Vulnerable Irenella chrysotricha Status: Endangered Froelichia juncea

Iresine pedicellata Status: Vulnerable Lithophila radicata Status: Lower Risk/near threatened Lithophila subscaposa Status: Vulnerable Pleuropetalum darwinii Status: Vulnerable Psilotrichum aphyllum Status: Endangered Psilotrichum axilliflorum Status: 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. ( lambs quarters, goosefoot), and Amaranthus spp. (pigweed) are eaten.

Beta vulgaris ( Beet, Swiss chard)

Spinaceae oleracea ( spinach )

Amaranthus spp. Chenopodium sp.

 The

seeds of several South American species of Chenopodium and Amaranthus are used to make flour. family includes a few ornamentals, including Celosia (cockscomb), Gomphrena (globe Amaranth), and Iresine (bloodleaf).

The

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.