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Taxon:  Amaranthus blitum L.



Summary
Genus:
Amaranthus
Subgenus:
Albersia
Family:
Amaranthaceae
Nomen number:
2788
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 2:990. 1753
Comment:
J. D. Hooker (1885) was apparently the first to unite A. blitum L. and A. lividus L., two names of equal priority, and he selected A. blitum
Verified:
02/04/2003 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
5 (5  active, 2  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Amaranthus blitum L. subsp. blitum (0 active accession[s])
Amaranthus blitum L. subsp. emarginatus (Moq. ex Uline & Bray) Carretero et al. (0 active accession[s])
Amaranthus blitum L. subsp. emarginatus (Moq. ex Uline & Bray) Carretero et al. var. emarginatus (Moq. ex Uline & Bray) Costea (0 active accession[s])
Amaranthus blitum L. subsp. emarginatus (Moq. ex Uline & Bray) Carretero et al. var. pseudogracilis (Thell.) Costea (0 active accession[s])
Amaranthus blitum L. subsp. oleraceus (L.) Costea (0 active accession[s])
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
  2. Botanical Society of the British Isles. BSBI taxon database (on-line resource).
  3. Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45. 1993
  4. Brenan, J. P. M. & C. C. Townsend. 1980. (540) Proposal to reject Amaranthus blitum L. (Amaranthaceae) under Art. 69 in favor of A. lividus L. Taxon 29:695-696.
  5. Brummitt, R. K. 1984. Report of the Committee for Spermatophyta: 27. Taxon 33:298.
  6. Costea, M. & F. J. Tardif. 2003. The biology of Canadian weeds. 126. Amaranthus albus L., A. blitoides S. Watson and A. blitum L. Canad. J. Pl. Sci. 83:1039-1065.
  7. Costea, M. et al. 2001. Notes on some little known Amaranthus taxa (Amaranthaceae) in the United States. Sida 19:977-986.
  8. Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. 1980-
  9. Erhardt, W. et al. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. 2008
  10. Exell, A. W. et al., eds. Flora zambesiaca. 1960-
  11. Fillias, F. et al. 1980. Amaranthus blitum vs. A. lividus (Amaranthaceae). Taxon 29:149-150.
  12. FNA Editorial Committee. Flora of North America. 1993-
  13. Görts-van Rijn, A. R. A., ed. Flora of the Guianas. 1986-
  14. Gleason, H. A. & A. Cronquist. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, ed. 2. 1991
  15. Greuter, W. et al., eds. Med-Checklist. 1984-
  16. Hügin, G. 1987. Einige Bemerkungen zu wenig bekannten Amaranthus - Sippen (Amaranthaceae) Mitteleuropas. Willdenowia 16:455.
  17. Hara, H. et al. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. 1978-1982
  18. Howard, R. Flora of the lesser Antilles. 1974-1989
  19. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  20. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
  21. Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 1989- 8:84.
  22. Terrell, E. E. et al. Agric. Handb. no. 505. 1986
  23. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. Flora of tropical East Africa. 1952-
  24. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea, second edition. 1993
  25. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea. 1964-1980
  26. Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. Flora of China (English edition). 1994-
  27. PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Common names
English
Guernsey pigweed –
livid amaranth –
purple amaranth –
slender amaranth –
French
amarante livide –
German
aufsteigender Amarant –
aufsteigender Fuchsschwanz –
Spanish
bledo –
Swedish
mållamarant –
Transcribed Chinese
ao tou xian –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaAnhui 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaFujian 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaGansu 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaGuangdong 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaGuangxi 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaGuizhou 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaHainan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaHebei 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaHeilongjiang 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaHenan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaHubei 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaHunan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaJiangsu 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaJiangxi 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaJilin 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaLiaoning 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaShaanxi 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaShandong 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaShanxi 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaSichuan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaXinjiang 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaYunnan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaZhejiang 
1NativeAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaJapan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaTaiwan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTurkmenistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentNepal  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentSri Lanka  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaLaos  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaVietnam  
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesia  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeAustria  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeHungary  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBulgaria  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeCroatia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeNorth Macedonia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeSerbia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeSlovenia  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
2CultivatedAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  
2CultivatedAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  
2CultivatedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon  
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
2CultivatedEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
4Naturalized     
6Other     
Native
Africa
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Malawi
Asia-Temperate
  • CHINA: China [Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Zhejiang]
  • EASTERN ASIA: Japan, Taiwan
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Turkmenistan
  • WESTERN ASIA: Iran, Turkey
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan
  • INDO-CHINA: Laos, Vietnam
  • MALESIA: Indonesia
Europe
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria, Hungary
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Italy, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France, Portugal
Cultivated
Africa
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Uganda
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Cameroon
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India
Europe
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Greece
Naturalized ()
Other ()
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Human foodvegetable Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 1989- 8:84.
Weed  CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988)
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://ausgenebank.agriculture.vic.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=2788. Accessed 16 December 2025.

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