Amaranthus as in the Bengal Plants

[surajit koley]

Sir,

ID key of various Amaranthus in the Bengal Plants (i am trying to grasp; and for future ref.) :-

Bracts awned or setaceous, equalling or exceeding the sepals; utricle dehiscent, circumscissile; leaves long-petioled :-

(i) stamens 5, sepals 5, ...with spines... ---------- A. spinosus L. (an erect spinescent herb)

(ii) stamens 5, sepals 5, ... stems striate; leaves acute or acuminate; spikes thyrsoid; bracts recurved, much exceeding the oblong-lanceolate, acuminate sepals ----- A. paniculatus L. (a tall robust annual, cultivated)

(iii) stamens 5, sepals 5, ... stems striate; leaves obtuse, rarely acute; spike thyrsoid; bracts hardly recurved, not much exceeding the obovate, mucronate sepals ----- A. caudatus L. (a tall robust annual, cultivated)

(iv) stamens 3, sepals 3, leaves obtuse or emarginate; erect; flowers clustered in lower axils and also forming a long terminal spike; sepals long awned; stems branching above the middle ----- A. gangeticus L. (an erect stout annual, very variable in colour and shape of leaves, cultivated)

      (iv b)    ......do......; stems branching near the base; yielding several crops annually ----- A. gangeticus var. tristis ( annual with ,many prostrate branches, cultivated)

(v) stamens 3, sepals 3, leaves obtuse or emarginate; diffuse; flowers clustered, all axillary, sepals short-awned -------- A. mangostanus L. (a diffusely branched annual, perhaps a feral state of A. gangeticus var. tristis)

Bracts acute, hardly awned, shorter than sepals; utricle indehiscent or rarely dehiscent; leaves obtuse, rounded or notched :-

(vi) stamens 3, sepals 3; utricle acute at the tip, rugose; clusters axillary and in terminal panicled slender spikes; leaves green ----- A. viridis L. (a slender annual)

        (vi b)   ..... do .........; leaves with a pale crescentic , transverse band --------- A. viridis var. fasciata (a slender annual)

(vii) stamens 3, sepals 3; utricle blunt at the tip, membranous, orbicular or broadly ovate; procumbent; leaves small, 2-lobed; clusters all axillary ------- A. blitum L. (a procumbent annual weed)

        (vii b)     .....do ......; tall, succulent; leaves large, oblong or rounded; clusters axillary and in terminal, simple or lobed spikes ---------- A. blitum var. oleracea (a tall succulent annual, cultivated)

(viii) stamens 3, sepals 3; utricle blunt at the tip, utricle rugose, ovoid, indehiscent or dehiscent; leaves obtuse, rarely retuse or 2-lobed; clusters all axillary ----- A. polygamus L. (a prostrate annual weed)

(ix) stamens 2, sepals 2; utricle orbicular, compressed; clusters minute, all axillary; leaves small, linear-oblong, with rounded, obtuse or 2-lobed tip ----- A. tenuifolius Willd. (a prostrate annual weed)

F. B. I has one more - 

Amaranthus caturus Heyne = tall, glabrous, leaves long-petioled elliptic-lanceolate acuminate thin, nerves very slender, clusters small globose soft green in very long and very slender axillary simple and terminal panicled spikes....... stem 2-3 ft., very slender......... Deccan Peninsula

Thank you,

Regards,

surajit

[surajit koley]

Sir,

I would further like to add that Amaranthus gangeticus L. of the "Bengal Plants" includes following species of Flora Indica ;-

• A. gangeticus
• A. oleraceus
• A. lanceolatus
• A. atropurpureus
• A. tricolor
• A. melancholicus
• A. lividus

"Bengal Plants" also describes -

• "The species separated by Roxburgh are well-marked races of this variety, and some of them, but more particularly the race described in the Flora Indica as A. oleraceus, possess many more or less distinguishable and definite subraces or cultivated forms.

About A. gangeticus var. tristis, the "Bengal Plants" describes -

• "as variable in shape and coloration of leaves as the preceding variety (A. gangeticus), ......... but particularly the race named A. tristis, include a multitude of distinguishable subraces and cultivated forms......"

Thank you,

Regards,

surajit