白苋 bai xian

Amaranthus gracilentus H. W. Kung.

Stem erect or ascending, greenish white, 30-50 cm tall, branched from base, glabrous or strigose. Petiole 3-5 mm, glabrous; leaf blade obovate or spatulate, 0.5-2 cm, glabrous, base narrowing to petiole, margin slightly undulate, apex obtuse or notched, with a mucro. Flowers in axillary clusters or short terminal spikes. Bracts and bracteoles subulate, 2-2.5 mm, slightly rigid, apex acute. Tepals ca. 1 mm, shorter than bracts, membranous; male flowers oblong, apex acuminate; female ones oblong or subulate, apex short acuminate. Stamens longer than perianth; stigmas 3. Utricles brownish black, obovate, 1.2-1.5 mm, rugose, circumscissile. Seeds black to brownish black, subglobose, ca. 1 mm in diam. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Sep. 2n = 32.

Roadsides, waste places, near houses. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Nei Mongol, Xinjiang [Japan, Russia; Europe, North America].