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.

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.

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