Help us maintain this website and keep it free and open for our community of scientists, students, and conservation managers, who depend on it to obtain the most up to date information. Help us save species and restore native ecosystems!

Close
Please scroll to the bottom for more images.
Floristic Inventory of the Florida Keys Database Online

Amaranthus spinosus L.
Spiny amaranth

Amaranthus spinosus
Copyright by: Forest & Kim Starr

Family: Amaranthaceae

Group: Dicot

Substrate: Terrestrial

Habit: Herb

Perennation: Annual

Native Range: A widespread weed in temperate and tropical regions; possibly native to Central America and South America.

Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida

SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence: Present

SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status: Not Native, Naturalized

SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status: Not Cultivated

Comments: For more images, click on the USDA PLANTS and Altas of Florida Vascular Plants links below.

FLORIDA KEYS Occurrence: Present

FLORIDA KEYS Native Status: Not Native, Naturalized

Map of select IRC data for the Florida Keys

Florida Keys History and Distribution: Reported in 1884 by J. Cosmo Melvill for the island of Key West. Reported in 1913 by John Kunkel Small for pinelands and disturbed areas from the upper Keys to the lower Keys. Sparingly naturalized from the upper Keys to the lower Keys.

Other data on Amaranthus spinosus available from :

Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants

Amaranthus spinosus has been reported from the following 3 conservation areas in the FLORIDA KEYS :
Occurrence Native Status
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Present Not Native, Naturalized
Long Key State Park Present Not Native, Naturalized
National Key Deer Refuge Possibly Extirpated Not Native, Naturalized




Amaranthus spinosus has been reported for the following habitat in THE FLORIDA KEYS :
Disturbed Upland


All Images:

Amaranthus spinosus
Copyright by: Forest & Kim Starr