Amaranthus spinosus L., Pigweed

Above:  We have an excellent crop of the native pigweed Amaranthus spinosus L. (that is emphasis on the Latin for 'spiny').  Sharp thorns adorn some specimens of this plant which seems to thrive in any soil without any moisture or nutrients.

Above:  Perhaps a more desirable version, this Amaranthus caudatus L., in my brother's garden, is naturalized in Florida.  Regardless, one won't find many specimens of this growing in open fields.  This pigweed is better known by its common name, 'Love Lies Bleeding.'

So how did this kind of plain species come to be so closely related to its colorful cousin?  It could be that some intense selection by humans had a hand in their different evolutionary paths.  For some reason the human eye sees the colorful version as much more desirable than this green-blooming native.  I find the native kind of admirable in that it survives with no care and still manages a showy bloom.

I'm allowing a few to stay where they've come up inside the borders of flower gardens.  Others are never removed by hand.  The thorns could easily penetrate all the way through a human finger.  I snip them with very sharp loppers if they're growing where I don't want them.  They'll continue to return from their stump, until winter when they become dormant.

Another close relative that I've not yet captured for the blog is referred to locally as 'water hemp,' Amaranthus cannabinus L.  These much taller (to 10') cousins will appear on our landscape as the days get longer, hotter and wetter.

All of these species belong to the family Amaranthaceae, that is Amaranth or Pigweed.