Slideshow image
Amaranthus tricolor L.  
Family: Amaranthaceae
Joseph's-Coat
[Amaranthus cuspidatus Vis., moreAmaranthus gangeticus L., Amaranthus melancholicus]
Amaranthus tricolor image
Tracey Slotta
  • FNA
  • Resources
Sergei L. Mosyakin & Kenneth R. Robertson in Flora of North America (vol. 4)
Plants annual, glabrous. Stems erect, often branched, 0.8-1.5 m. Leaves: petiole 1/2 as long as blade; blade ovate, elliptic, rhombic, or lanceolate, mostly 4-12 × 1.4-6 cm, base tapering, margins entire, usually undulate, apex acuminate and short-mucronate; distal leaf blades green, red, scarlet, maroon, purple, yellow, and cream (unique to A. tricolor). Inflorescences axillary glomerules. Bracts of pistillate flowers ovate to lanceolate, 5-6 mm. Pistillate flowers: tepals 3, narrowly ovate to lanceolate, 5-6 mm, apex aristate; style branches spreading; stigmas 2-3. Staminate flowers intermixed with pistillate; tepals 3; stamens 3. Utricles ovoid, 2-2.5 mm, rugose, dehiscence regularly circumscissile. Seeds black or brownish black, subglobose, 1 mm diam., shiny. Flowering summer-fall. Locally escaped from cultivation, disturbed areas; introduced; La., Mich., Mo.; native in tropical Asia. Amaranthus tricolor is widely cultivated as a garden plant for its showy, often variegated, distal leaves of striking colors---red, scarlet, maroon, purple, yellow, cream, and green. Other cultivated varieties with green leaves are sometimes cultivated as a potherb. Escaped plants sometimes occur near places of cultivation; we have no evidence of widespread establishment.

Amaranthus tricolor
Open Interactive Map
Amaranthus tricolor image
Tracey Slotta
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Amaranthus tricolor image
Click to Display
44 Total Images
Powered by Symbiota