Tricolor foxtail

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Tricolor foxtail
Amaranthus tricolor6.jpg

Tricolor foxtail ( Amaranthus tricolor )

Systematics
Asterids
Euasterids I
Family : Foxtail family ( Amaranthaceae )
Genre : Amaranth ( Amaranthus )
Type : Tricolor foxtail
Scientific name
Amaranthus tricolor
L.

The three-colored foxtail or vegetable amaranth ( Amaranthus tricolor ) is a type of plant from the genus Amaranthus ( Amaranthus ). It is used as an ornamental plant , also as a vegetable and in medicine. It originally comes from tropical Asia, probably from India, and is distributed almost worldwide as a neophyte in many climates . Cultivars have bright yellow, red and green leaf colors.

description

illustration

Vegetative characteristics

The three-colored foxtail grows as an upright and slightly fleshy, green or red, only slightly branched, annual herbaceous plant and reaches heights of 80 to 150 centimeters. The alternate leaves are arranged in a petiole and a leaf blade. The green or red petiole is 2 to 6 inches long. The bald, green, yellow or red-tinted, often spotted leaf blade is 4 to 12 centimeters long and 3 to 7 centimeters wide and is rhombic-oval or lanceolate with a blunt or slightly bulged upper end. The base of the spread is wide and the leaf margin is entire and sometimes slightly lobed.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from July to August. The inflorescences are tightly packed, which are rounded or piston-shaped strung along a stem. The bracts are oval-lanceolate and translucent with a length of about 4 mm. The inconspicuous, yellow-greenish flowers are threefold. The bracts are lanceolate. The simple pistil ends in a three-part stigma.

The fruit pods are oval, longer than the fruit and wrapped in the dried up petals. They tear during the ripening process and the upper part falls off as a cap. The seeds are black-brown, flat-round with bulges on both sides, smooth and shiny, about 1 mm in size.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 34.

Surname

Due to the wide distribution, there are many regional names. The German colloquial name refers to the dense inflorescences that grow into long cords over time. The scientific genus name Amaranthus means "flower that never fades" and the specific epithet tricolor means three-colored.

Regional common names : Amarante, brède de Malabar (French). Amaranto, bredo (Portuguese), Mchicha ( Swahili ), Tampala, Tandaljo, Tandalja bhaji (India), in the Caribbean Callaloo (as an ingredient in the dish of the same name). In the English-speaking world: Joseph's coat after the biblical person Joseph , who is said to have worn a multicolored robe. In Greece, amaranth is often cooked as a chorta (χορτα) with a spinach-like vegetable and in China this type of plant is called Xian ( Chinese  苋 , pinyin xiàn or 雁 来 红 yàn laí hóng, 救 荒 本草 jìu huāng běn cǎo, 老 少年 lao shao nian,盛京 通志 lan jing tu zhi, 老 来 少 lao lai shao, 三 色 苋 san se xian). In Korea , this type of plant is called bireum - Korean 비름 , chambireum - Korean 참비름 , and is prepared as namul . It grows almost like a wild plant in Korea.

This plant species also appears in the coat of arms of Gonville and Caius College , Cambridge, where it is referred to as "flowers gentle".

use

The tri-colored foxtail is a C4 plant that is particularly effective at binding carbon. In addition to being used as an ornamental plant, it is mainly cooked as a vegetable. All parts of the plant are also used in folk medicine and are considered a remedy for many diseases. In Africa the seeds are also used as a starch supplier.

Taxonomy

Amaranthus tricolor traditionally belongs to the section Pyxidium , an embarrassment taxon that probably does not represent a monophyletic unit, in the subgenus Albersia . Synonyms for Amaranthus tricolor are: Amaranthus melancholicus L. , Amaranthus tristis L. , Amaranthus mangostanus L. , Amaranthus polygamus L. It is a variable, diverse species.

Amaranthus gangeticus L. is often seen as a synonym for Amaranthus tricolor , in fact the assignment of the name to a species is not possible (nomen incertae sedis), since the first description cannot clearly be related to a species and the description and herbarium evidence in the Herbarium Linnés do not match . The flowers of the horticultural clan, often (erroneously) offered under this name, which is also known as "elephant head amaranth", are dark purple.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ GJH Grubbenvorst, DH van Sloten: Genetic Resources of Amaranth: A Global Plan of Action. International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), Rome, 1981. 57 pages. Cape. 4 Centers of Origin and Diversity, page 12.
  2. ↑ Michel H. Porcher: Sorting Amaranthus names .
  3. ↑ Bburi Kitchen: 10 Korean spring greens you should know . In: Stripes Korea , April 20, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved March 8, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / korea.stripes.com 
  4. ↑ Grubben, GJH & Denton, OA (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
  5. ^ Sergei L. Mosyakin, Kenneth R. Robertson: New infrageneric taxa and combinations in Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae). In: Annales Botanici Fennici , Volume 33, Issue 4, 1996, pp. 275-281.
  6. ↑ Duilio Iamonico: Taxonomic revision of the genus Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae) in Italy. In: Phytotaxa , Volume 199, Issue 1, 2015, pp. 1-84. doi : 10.11646 / phytotaxa.199.1.1
  7. ↑ Amaranthus gangeticus L. . In: The Plant List . 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  8. ↑ Duilio Iamonico: Amaranthus gangeticus (Amaranthaceae), a name incertae sedis. In: Phytotaxa , Volume 162, Issue 5, 2014, pp. 299-300.

literature

  • HM Burkill: The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd edition, Volume 1, Families A – D. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom 1985. 960 pp.
  • GJH Grubben: La culture de l'amarante, légume-feuilles tropical, avec référence spéciale au Sud-Dahomey. Mededelingen Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 75–6. Wageningen, Netherlands 1975. 223 pp.
  • GJH Grubben, DH van Sloten: Genetic resources of amaranths: a global plan of action, including a provisional key to some edible species of the family Amaranthaceae by Laurie B. Feine-Dudley. International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, Rome, Italy 1981. 57 pp.
  • KG Shanmugavelu, M. Kader Mohideen: Accomplishments in amaranth research at the College of Horticulture. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Amaranth Newsletter 3, 1989, pp. 5-7.

Web links

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