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Amaranthus viridis (Green amaranth)

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Amaranthus
Species: A. viridis
Binomial name: Amaranthus viridis
Common name: Green amaranth, Slender amaranth

Amaranthus viridis is an annual herb with an erect or semi-erect habit and is native to tropical America. In New Zealand is only found north of the Bay of Plenty, growing in crops and on sand dunes. It has a light green stem that grows to about 60–80 cm in height. The stems are hairless (glabrous) or sparsely hairy. Numerous branches emerge from the base, and the leaves are egg-shaped to almost triangular in shape, tips vary, being blunt, pointed or rounded with a notch. They are 3–6 cm long, 2–4 cm wide and have long petioles of about 5 cm.
The small green flowers with three 'petals' (perianth segments) about 1.5 mm in length on branched inflorescences (5-10 cm long) and also in axillary clusters (which emerge from the forks of the upper leaves). These inflorescences can be greenish or have a pinkish or reddish-brown colour. Flowering occurs throughout the year. The fruit is 1.5-2 mm long and it has a wrinkled surface. Seeds are round, black-brown in colour and with a warty texture (1-1.5 mm in size)

Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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