Amaranthus tuberculatus

Botanical Description

Amaranthus tuberculatus is an erect to sometimes ascending or more rarely prostrate, usually branched annual plant growing up to 2 metres tall, occasionally to 3 metres[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food. Amaranthus tuberculatus has spread from its native range in northern North America and is considered a major weed of agricultural fields and other disturbed areas in 40 US states. In the mid-western USA it has become increasingly difficult to control since the advent of the 21st century due to a persistent seedbank and the development of resistance to certain herbicides. The seed is a known contaminant of soyabean seed and other grains, and has been accidentally introduced and become naturalized in parts of West Asia and Europe - it is considered to be 'Invasive' in Italy. Once introduced, the plant appears to thrive along water courses and rivers, its high reproductive capacity allowing it to spread rapidly with resulting adverse ecological effects on the native riparian herbaceous vegetation, for example along the banks of the River Po in Italy. Potential spread to other areas should be considered likely[ 1093 Title Invasive Species Compendium Publication Author Website http://www.cabi.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc). ].