Palmer's amaranth (Plants of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque)

Palmer's amaranth

Amaranthus palmeri

Summary ⁶

Amaranthus palmeri is a species of edible flowering plant in the Amaranth genus. It has several common names, including carelessweed, dioecious amaranth, Palmer's amaranth, Palmer amaranth, and Palmer's pigweed. It is native throughout much of the southern half of North America. Populations in the eastern United States are probably naturalized. It has also been introduced to Europe, Australia, and other areas.

Botanical Information ⁷

Its scientific name is Amaranthus palmeri. Carelessweed’s class is Magnoliopsida, its order is Caryophyllales, its family is Amaranthaceae, its genus is Amaranthus, and its species is palmeri. It is an annual plant that grows upright from 6-8 feet tall. It is green and it has leaves growing from the stem in an alternate pattern. The male and female flowers are on separate plants, making it a "dioecious" plant.

Ecological Information ⁸

Careless weed is a plant that is native to New Mexico, residing in its valleys and high elevations. It can thrive in dry, hot environments and likes disturbed soils. It germinates and seeds relatively quickly, sometimes producing as many as 500,000 seeds. These qualities make it a nuisance to farmers and can be difficult to irradicate. Sheep, however, do like to eat this plant.

Ethnobotanical Information ⁹

The leaves can be cooked like spinach and this is very nutritious. Also it can be made into a bread. One interesting fact about this plant is some of the seeds will pass right through the digestive system without being broken down.

References ¹⁰

http://www.naturalmedicinalherbs.net/herbs/a/amaranthus-palmeri=careless-weed.php
https://rangeplants.tamu.edu/plant/carelessweed-pigweed/
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/amaranthus-palmeri/
https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=5090

About the Author ⁹

Student author(s)*: Sanna and Angelina (age 13) from South Valley Academy

*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting. https://yerbamansaproject.org/

Sources and Credits

(c) Anthony Mendoza, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/39039456@N07/8055654069/
(c) Anthony Mendoza, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/39039456@N07/21643601446/
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/9535129557/
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/9537938824/
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jroldenettel/9535146353/
Adapted by smiller33 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranthus_palmeri
Adapted by smiller33 from a work by (c) kristen_himm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) kristen_himm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

Range Map

iNat Map

Type	herb
Uses	edible, medicinal

‹ › ×