Amaranthus spinosus

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Family:AMARANTHACEAE
Species:Amaranthus spinosus L.
Common Name:Spiny Amaranth; Thorny Amaranth
Habitat:Disturbed areas. Fields, roadsides, along railroad tracks, stock pens.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Annual
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:AMSP
Plant Notes:Spiny Amaranth is an introduced herbaceous annual in the Amaranth family (Amaranthaceae). It is native to the lowlands of tropical America, but it is now a pantropical weed occurring in warmer areas worldwide. It Alabama it can be found statewide. Spiny Amaranth grows in fields and gardens, in pastures and livestock pens, along roads and railroads, along rivers and lakes, and in other disturbed habitats. It is an annual with a tap root. Stems are erect, glabrous or slightly pubescent, often reddish in color, and much branched. There are a pair of spines at each node. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, ovate to lanceolate in outline, with entire margins. Flowers are unisexual. Staminate flowers are produced in simple or compound terminal spikes. Pistillate flowers are produced in axillary clusters. Flowers are non-showy, and have 5 greenish teapls. The fruit is a utricle (a dry one-seeded fruit enclosed in a papery sack-like structure). Spiny Amaranth leaves and seed are collected and eaten in several countries. It is a serious competitor in row crops, and has been called the world's 15th worst agricultural weed. Because of the spines, livestock and other large herbivores avoid it. Spiny Amaranth can serve as a host for fungi, viruses, and nematodes that attack cultivated plants. Spiny Amaranth is often defoliated by the Amaranth flea beetle (Disonycha glabrata), which is being investigated as a biological control.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyAMARANTHACEAE - Amaranth family
Genus Amaranthus
Species Amaranthus spinosus L. - Spiny Amaranth; Thorny Amaranth

Citation

Citation Amaranthus retroflexus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 991. 1753.
Basionym: **
Type: USA: PENNSYLVANIA: Without data, Kalm s.n. (lectotype: LINN 1117.22). Lectotypified by C. C. Townsend, in Nasir & Ali, Fl. W. Pakistan 71: 12. 1974.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Amaranthus caracasanus Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. Pl. 2: 195. 1817. VENEZUELA: Distrito Federal: "Crescit in ripa fluvii Catoche prope urbem Caracas", Jan, Humboldt & Bonpland s.n. (holotype: P).
Amaranthus diacanthus Fl. Ludov. 31. 1817.  
Amaranthus spinosus var. viridicaulis Flora 25(2, Beibl.): 20. 1842.  
Amaranthus spinosus forma inermis Fl. Schutzgeb. Suedsee 305. 1900.  
Amaranthus spinosus var. basiscissus Ascherson et al., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 5: 269. 1914.  
Amaranthus spinosus var. circumscissus Ascherson et al., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 5: 269. 1914.  
Amaranthus spinosus var. indehiscens Ascherson et al., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 5: 269. 1914.  
Amaranthus spinosus var. purpurascens de Candolle, Prodr. 13(2): 261. 1849.  
Amaranthus spinosus var. rubricaulis Flora 25(2, Beibl.): 20. 1842.  
Galliaria spinosa Amer. Midl. Naturalist 3: 278. 1914.Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus 1753. 

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, Dallas, DeKalb, Elmore, Etowah, Franklin, Geneva, Hale, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pike, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Winston

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, BRIT, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, UNAF, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1966 - 2021

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
UWAL0046408 Autauga 19 Oct 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1417		 UWAL
Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus
TROY000048693 Autauga 19 Oct 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1417		 TROY
Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus
UWAL0046215 Autauga 16 Nov 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1458		 UWAL
Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus
TROY000047756 Autauga 16 Nov 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1458		 TROY
Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus
UWAL0046166 Autauga 07 Aug 2018 Parker, Matthew R.
1747		 UWAL
Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus
TROY000048593 Autauga 07 Aug 2018 Parker, Matthew R.
1747		 TROY
Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus
AUA000026492 Baldwin 3 Jul 1970 ROGERS, NORMAN
066		 AUA
AMARANTHUS SPINOSUS L.
SAMF0007125 Baldwin 15 Jun 1974 Lelong, Michel G.
7853		 SAMF
Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus
USAM000000963 Baldwin 15 Jun 1974 LeLong, Michel G.
7838		 USAM
Amaranthus spinosus Linnaeus
UWAL0037759 Baldwin 15 Jun 1974 LeLong, Michel G.
7838		 UWAL
Amaranthus spinosus L.
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