腋花苋 ye hua xian

Stem erect, light green, 30-65 cm, much branched, glabrous. Petiole 1-2.5 cm, slender; leaf blade ovate-rhombic, obovate, or oblong, 2-5 × 1-2.5 cm, base cuneate, margin undulate, apex notched, with a mucro. Flowers few, sparsely clustered at axils. Bracts and bracteoles subulate, ca. 2 mm, abaxially with a distinct midvein, apex long pointed. Tepals lanceolate, ca. 2.5 mm, apex acuminate, long pointed. Stamens shorter than perianth; stigmas 3. Utricles ovoid, subequal to perianth, ca. 3 mm, circumscissile. Seeds brownish black, subglobose, ca. 1 mm in diam. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

Field margins, waste places. Hebei, Henan, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang [India, Sri Lanka].

The names Amaranthus gracilis Desfontaines and A. viridis Desfontaines have been misapplied to this species. Further study is necessary to compare A. roxburghianus with A. graecizans Linnaeus.