Amaranthus fimbriatus – Fringed Amaranth

Amaranthus fimbriatus - Fringed Amaranth

Amaranthus fimbriatus - Fringed Amaranth

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Amaranthus fimbriatus

Common Name: Fringed Amaranth

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland

Flower Color: Green, Brownish red

Flowering Season: Summer, Fall (early). This weed blooms after the summer monsoon rains begin.

Height: To 39 inches (1 m) tall

Description: The flowers are both scattered in the leaf axils and densely clustered on long, thin, leafy, often curving terminal flower spikes. The flowers are disk-shaped and have 5 broad, clawed tepals with fringed or toothed edges. The leaves are green, simple, alternate, linear to narrowly lanceolate in shape, and up to 4 3/4 inches (12 cm) long. The stems are slender, upright, and often reddish in color.

This weedy plant grows in sandy, gravelly, and disturbed areas.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Caryophyllidae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae – Amaranth family
Genus: Amaranthus L. – pigweed
Species: Amaranthus fimbriatus (Torr.) Benth. ex S. Watson – fringed amaranth

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map