Amaranthus blitum

Ascending pigweed ( Amaranthus blitum )

The Rising pigweed ( Amaranthus blitum ) is a species of the genus Amaranthus ( Amaranthus ) within the family of Amaranthaceae ( Amaranthaceae ). The leaves are eaten as a vegetable.

  • 6.1 Notes and references

Description

Vegetative characteristics

The Rising foxtail is an annual herbaceous plant with plant height up to 100 cm. The compressed to elongated, simple or branched stem is bare. The alternate and spirally arranged leaves are petiolate 1 to 10 cm long. The simple and green to pale purple leaf blade is ovate -edged with a length of 1 to 10 cm and a width of 0.5 to 6 cm and has branched veins. There are no stipules present.

Generative features

The Rising foxtail is monoecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( monoecious ). The unisexual flowers are mixed to knäueligen inflorescences crowded together in the leaf axils. The three, rarely five bracts are only about 1.5 mm long. Male blossoms have three stamens. Female flowers have a superior ovaries with a single ovule and two to three scars.

The case of a diameter of about 2 mm rounded to elliptical capsule fruits tear irregularly at maturity to release the individual seed on.

Dissemination and use

The Rising foxtail has a cosmopolitan distribution over the tropical and temperate zones of the world. The origin of the species is suspected in the Mediterranean.

As a crop it is grown mainly in East and Central Africa, the origin of domestication is believed in India. The leaves are used fresh or dried as a vegetable.

History

The Rising foxtail is an ancient crop which has been demonstrated already in the stilt houses and thus represents a cultural relic and a archaeophyte. Headquartered in the Mediterranean plant is kidnapped world today. From Theophrastus a grown vegetables bliton or called blitum. In " Capitulare de Villis " of Charlemagne called the plant blidas. Because of the elaborate harvest and poor quality but it was displaced in the German-speaking countries in the 16th century by the spinach.

System

The first publication of Amaranthus blitum successes in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, 2, pp. 990 synonyms for Amaranthus L. blitum are: Amaranthus ascendens Loisel, Amaranthus blitum var polygonoides Moq, Amaranthus lividus L., Amaranthus lividus subsp.. . polygonoides ( Moq. ) Probst, Amaranthus lividus var ascendens ( Loisel. ) Hayw. & Druce, Amaranthus lividus var ascendens Thell. , Amaranthus lividus var polygonoides ( Moq. ) Thell. , Euxolus ascending ( Loisel. ) H.Hara, Euxolus viridis var ascendens ( Loisel. ) Moq ..

Amaranthus blitum belongs to the subgenus of the genus Amaranthus Albersia.

Sub-species and cultivated varieties are known which differ in morphology of the stems, petal shape and leaf color. In Europe before coming:

  • Amaranthus blitum subsp. emarginatus ( Moq. ex Uline & Bray ) Carretero et al. - Stem flat stretched to ascending, thin, wine -colored to deep purple, almost fluted; Petals broadly spatulate, obtuse.
  • Amaranthus blitum subsp. oleraceus (L.) Costea - stems ascending to erect, strong and often hollow, grooved, pale to whitish; Leaves pale green with whitish Aderung.Diese variety is so cultivated in China, India as a vegetable.
  • Blitum Amaranthus L. subsp. blitum - Stem flat stretched to ascending, thin, wine -colored to deep purple, almost fluted; Leaves green to reddish; Petals thin spatulate, often pointed.
  • Amaranthus blitum subsp. blitum var lividus - Stem erect, vigorous and often hollow, furrowed; whole plant dark reddish purple to almost black, leaves green or purple with purple veining.

There are also:

  • Blitum Amaranthus L. subsp. emarginatus var pseudogracilis ( Thell. ) Costea

Trivial names

More in part only regional common names for the anodic foxtail are or were: Blood Orchid ( Silesia ), blood Mayer (Silesia ), strawberry spinach ( Bern ), Flöhkraut (Bernese Oberland), Good King Henry (Bernese Oberland), Maier, Rautrich ( Sommerfeld), Rotbuckeln ( Zurich ), stubbornness ( East Prussia ) and Tausendschön.

Swell

  • GJH Grubben, 2004: Amaranthus blitum - Data sheet at Plant Resources of Tropical Africa = Protabase. (Section Description, distribution and use )
  • R. Duell / H. Kutzelnigg: Pocket Dictionary of Plants in Germany and neighboring countries, 7th Edition, Quelle & Meyer Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1
Amaranthoideae Family (biology) Ovary (botany) Agricultural Research Service
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