49 - Amaranthaceae
from Division 5 - Magnoliophyta
Summary
Annual to perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, simple, entire; the lower petiolate; without stipules. Inflorescence usually of axillary cymes or flowers densely clustered at stem apex; flowers small and usually brownish, mostly unisexual, hypogynous, actinomorphic. Perianth scarious, of 1 whorl of usually (2–)3–5 free segments, sometimes absent. Stamens as many as perianth segments. Styles 2–3; stigma linear. Ovary 1-celled, with 1 ovule. Fruit an achene or more usually a capsule, often 1-seeded.
Contains about 65 genera and about 850 species, mainly in tropical and warm temperate regions.
Carolin, R. C. (1933). The trichomes of the Chenopodiaceae and Amaranthaceae. Bot. Jahrb. 103 : 451–466.
Perianth segments coloured red, lilac, yellow or silvery, much longer than the bracts 1. Celosia
Perianth segments colourless to greenish-brown or sometimes red, but then not longer than the bracts 2. Amaranthus
Celosia L.
Annual herbs. Leaves alternate. Inflorescence terminal on stem and branches; bracteoles 3. Perianth segments 5, oblong, acute or obtuse. Stamens 5; filaments connate below in a membranous tube. Style 1, long and filiform. Fruit a circumscissile capsule; seeds numerous.
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- Information
- Flora of Great Britain and Ireland , pp. 422 - 430Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018