Amaranth

Amaranthus is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths.[1] Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Most of the Amaranthus species are summer annual weeds and are commonly referred to as pigweeds.[2] Catkin-like cymes of densely packed flowers grow in summer or autumn.[3] Amaranth varies in flower, leaf, and stem color with a range of striking pigments from the spectrum of maroon to crimson and can grow longitudinally from 1 to 2.5 metres (3 to 8 feet) tall with a cylindrical, succulent, fibrous stem that is hollow with grooves and bracteoles when mature.[4] There are approximately 75 species in the genus, 10 of which are dioecious and native to North America with the remaining 65 monoecious species endemic to every continent from tropical lowlands to the Himalayas.[5] Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely related genus Celosia. Amaranth grain is collected from the genus. The leaves of some species are also eaten.[6]

“Amaranth” derives from Greek ἀμάραντος[7] (amárantos), “unfading”, with the Greek word for “flower”, ἄνθος (ánthos), factoring into the word’s development as amaranth, the unfading flower. Amarant is an archaic variant. The name was first applied to the related Celosia (Amaranthus and Celosia share long-lasting dried flowers), as Amaranthus plants were not yet known in Europe.[8]

The showy Amaranth present in John Milton’s Garden of Eden is “remov’d from Heav’n” when it blossoms because the flowers “shade the fountain of life”.[9] He describes Amaranth as ‘immortal’ in reference to the flowers that generally do not wither and retain bright reddish tones of color, even when deceased; sometimes referred to as “love-lies-bleeding.”