Contains 17 genera and 51 accepted taxa overall.
This family is completely databased for all specimens.
Characteristics
AMARANTHACEAE
Dicot
-
Classification
CARYOPHYLLALES
AMARANTHACEAE
Genera
| Genus | Common Name | Taxa Count | Herbarium Specimens | Photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Achyranthes | DEVIL'S HORSEWHIP | 2 | ||
| Alternanthera | JOYWEED | 9 | ||
| Amaranthus | AMARANTH | 15 | ||
| Atriplex | SALTBUSH | 3 | ||
| Blutaparon | BLUTAPARON | 1 | ||
| Celosia | COCK'S COMB | 3 | ||
| Chenopodiastrum | 1 | |||
| Chenopodium | GOOSEFOOT | 4 | ||
| Cyathula | 1 | |||
| Dysphania | 3 | |||
| Froelichia | SNAKECOTTON | 1 | ||
| Gomphrena | GLOBE AMARANTH | 1 | ||
| Iresine | BLOODLEAF | 2 | ||
| Oxybasis | 1 | |||
| Salicornia | GLASSWORT | 2 | ||
| Salsola | SALTWORT | 1 | ||
| Suaeda | SEEPWEED | 1 |
Identification Key
1. Tepals usually scarious or chartaceous, occasionally indurate or membranaceous; filaments basally connate (amaranths)
2
1. Tepals membranaceous to fleshy; filaments free (chenopods)
10
2. Leaves alternate
3
2. Leaves mostly or all opposite
4
3. Flowers unisexual; fruit with 1 seed
3. Flowers bisexual; fruit with 2 or more seeds
4. Inflorescences terminal panicles; flowers unisexual
4. Inflorescences terminal or axillary glomerules, heads, or spiciform; flowers bisexual
5
5. Tips of fruiting perianth of sterile flowers uncinate, burr-like
5. Tips of fruiting perianth not uncinate (barbed hairs present in a few species)
6
6. Inflorescence bracteoles with a spinose midrib and mature fruits often retrorse on the rachis
6. Inflorescence bracteoles not spinose (occasionally stiffened, tepals spinose in a few species) and mature fruits typically spreading to appressed-antrorse
7
7. Inflorescences mostly compound, interrupted spikes, peduncles typically 10-50 cm long (occasionally shorter or subtended by a reduce leaf); tepals connate into indurate tubes with lateral crests or spines, lanate
7. Inflorescences simple spikes or few-branched panicles, flowers progressively farther apart below, peduncles 0-13 cm long ; tepals basally connate into indurate tubes, without ornamentation, ± glabrous
8
8. Inflorescence not immediately subtended by 2 leaves, mostly axillary and sometimes terminal
8. Inflorescence usually subtended by 2 leaves, mostly terminal and sometimes axillary
9
9. Stem and leaves glabrous; leaf blade succulent
9. Stem and leaves pilose; leaf blade not succulent
10. Stems succulent; leaves opposite, scalelike; of saline habitats
10. Stems not succulent (sometimes thickened and green); leaves alternate, with a sizable expanded blade, not scalelike; of freshwater or saline habitats
11
11. Leaves and bracts spinose at the tip
11. Leaves and bracts not spinose, sometimes mucronate at the tip
12
12. Leaves linear, usually fleshy
12. Leaves not linear, not fleshy or only slightly so
13
13. Flowers unisexual (rarely bisexual); pistillate flowers usually lacking perianth, at least some flowers enclosed by 2 accrescent, connate, dentate, or tuberculate bracts in fruit
13. Flowers bisexual (rarely unisexual); perianth present, not enclosed by paired bracts in fruit
14
14. Stems and leaves glandular
14. Stem and leaves eglandular (sometimes farinose)
15
15. Tepals 3-4
15. Tepals 5
16
16. Young stems and leaves with the vesicular trichomes (farinose) slightly yellowish or brownish and fully collapsed when dry, fresh leaves generally green with a pungent odor; tepal midrib pronounced
16. Young stems and leaves with the vesicular trichomes (farinose) white and cup-shaped when dry and persistent, fresh leaves generally grayish with a weak or noxious odor; tepal midrib weak