Foxtail amaranth

Family Amaranthaceae. Native to tropical Africa, Asia, and South America.

Annual plant. Stems erect, robust, 100-150 cm high. Leaves large, elongate-ovate, green or purple-green. Flowers small, raspberry or dark red, more rarely yellowish-green, in dense globular clusters, which in turn are gathered into complex, long, drooping paniculate inflorescences. Blooms from June to October. Fruits abundantly. In cultivation since 1568.

Has a dark purple ornamental form (f. atro-purpureus) — with brownish-red leaves and erect red inflorescences of small flowers; a white-flowered form (f. albiflorus) — with greenish-white inflorescences; f. viridis — pale green flowers; this variety of amaranth is in high demand among florists and floral arrangers, so it is often grown commercially. Very ornamental is the bead-like form (f. gibbosus.), in which the flowers are gathered in whorls, making the inflorescences resemble a long string of beads threaded on a thin stem. The best-known cultivars of foxtail amaranth: Rotschwanz (Rotschwanz) with red-colored inflorescences and Grunschwanz (Grunschwanz) with light-green inflorescences. Both of these cultivars reach 75 cm in height. Plants of these cultivars should not be planted too closely, as each develops into a vigorous bush that occupies a lot of space.