Tricolored amaranth

Family Amaranthaceae. Originates from the Indo-Malayan region.

An annual ornamental foliage plant. Stems 70-150 cm tall, erect, forming a pyramidal bush. Leaves oblong-ovate or narrow, sometimes wavy, tricolored (a combination of red, yellow and green), especially bright when young. Produces fruit very abundantly. Flowers from June until the frosts.

Has several ornamental forms, which are sometimes regarded as separate species: willow-leaved (var. salicifolius (Veitch) Thell.) - with narrow, wavy, bronze-green leaves, 12-20 cm long and 0.6 cm wide, bush pyramidal in shape; var. rubriviridishort. - leaves ruby-purple with green spots; f. ruberhort. - leaves blood-reddish; f. splendens - leaves dark green with brown spots. These forms in the middle zone succeed only in very warm summers and provided good seedling preparation in pots. In cultivation the most commonly used cultivars of the tricolored amaranth are: 'Аврора' ('Aurora'), 'Иллюминейпш' ('Illumination'), which translates as "sparkling", and 'Ерли Сплендор' ('Early Splendour').