Amaranthus viridis
Common names
green amaranth
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Green
Similar taxa
A. viridis is a vigorous annual that grows up to around 1 m tall. The leaves are mid to light green, deeply veined and alternate. They have a long leaf stalk with a broad base tapering to a pointed tip. The inflorescence, the flowering part of the plant, is a dense spike of small green flowers. Small brown fruits that contain seeds follow flowering. (Ermert and Clapp 1998).
Habitat
Found in gardens, wastelands, pastures and along roadsides (Ermert and Clapp 1998) crops, sand dunes (Webb et al, 1988).
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Year naturalised
1867
Origin
pantropical
Life cycle and dispersal
Amaranthus reproduces via the many seeds produced after flowering (Eremert and Clapp 1998).
Other information
Etymology
amaranthus: From the Greek a- ‘without’ or ‘lacking’ and maraino ‘to fade’, meaning unfading and referring to the durability of the flowers of some species
viridis: From the Latin viridis ‘green’
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
AMAVIR