Copy permalink to share
Amaranthaceae
Amaranthus

not marked as a favorite taxon Amaranthus pumilus Rafinesque. Common name: Seabeach Amaranth, Dwarf Amaranth. Phenology: Jul-Nov. Habitat: Sea beaches, fore-dunes, island end flats, rarely on sound-side beaches. Distribution: Se. Massachusetts south to c. South Carolina; presently known to be extant only from North Carolina, n. South Carolina, e. Maryland, Delaware (McAvoy 2002), se. New York (Long Island), Virginia, and New Jersey. Since 2000, populations have crashed rangewide.

Glossary (beta!)

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Other Comments: Seeds of this plant require cold stratification, high temperatures, and light to germinate (Baskin & Baskin 1998); this is apparently responsible for the late seasonality of the species (germination in late spring and early summer) and its seed-banking. See Hancock & Hosier (2003) for discussion of the ecology of this interesting species.

Synonymy ⓘ: = C, F, FNA4, G, GW2, K1, K4, NE, NS, NY, Pa, POWO, RAB, S, S13, Tat, Va, Bayón (2015). Basionym: Amaranthus pumilus Raf. 1808

Links to other floras: = Amaranthus pumilus - FNA4

Show in key(s)

Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)

Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
  • Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
  • Northcentral & Northeast: FACW

Heliophily ⓘ: 9

Your browser does not support SVGs

Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.

image #1 of Amaranthus pumilus© Bruce Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
image #2 of Amaranthus pumilus© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image #3 of Amaranthus pumilus© Mike Kunz | Original Image ⭷
image #6 of Amaranthus pumilus© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image #7 of Amaranthus pumilus© Mike Kunz | Original Image ⭷
image #9 of Amaranthus pumilus© Radford, Ahles and Bell | Original Image ⭷
image #10 of Amaranthus pumilus© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image #13 of Amaranthus pumilus© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷

Feedback

See something missing or incorrect about Amaranthus pumilus? Let us know here:
  1. Please include your name and if possible, email in case when need to clarify what you wrote.
  2. If you opt out of including email, please be as specific as possible (e.g., which photo is incorrect?)
  3. Please do not submit questions asking to identify plants or about horticultural topics (e.g., how do I control an invasive plant in my garden?). Instead, those questions can be submitted here for the Carolinas region only.
  4. Please do not send us feedback about unkeyed species as this work is ongoing.
  5. Please allow time for flora edits to show in our next data release. We greatly appreciate your feedback but may require extra time to research complicated taxonomic issues.

Horticultural Information

NCBG trait

Intro: Prostrate to ascending, mat-forming annual of sea beaches, fore-dunes, island end flats and, rarely, sound-side beaches.

Stems: Stems fleshy, branching from the base, reddish, smooth.

Leaves: Leaves alternate but clustered toward ends of branches, petiolate, round to oval with decurrent base and shallow notch at the tip, 1/2-3/4 in. long, fleshy, margins slightly wavy, smooth.

Inforescence:

Flowers: Flowers in conspicuous clusters in leaf axils, reddish-green, minute, with yellow stamens in male flowers protruding at peak flowering.

Fruits: Fruit a shiny black seed surrounded by a dark, wrinkled membrane.

Comments: Larger plants may contain over 100 stems branching from the center, attaining a diameter of more than 3 ft.

Height: 4-10 in.

plant sale text:

bloom table text:

description: Prostrate to ascending, mat-forming annual of sea beaches, fore-dunes, island end flats and, rarely, sound-side beaches.

stems: Stems fleshy, branching from the base, reddish, smooth.

leaves: Leaves alternate but clustered toward ends of branches, petiolate, round to oval with decurrent base and shallow notch at the tip, 1/2-3/4 in. long, fleshy, margins slightly wavy, smooth.

inflorescence:

flowers: Flowers in conspicuous clusters in leaf axils, reddish-green, minute, with yellow stamens in male flowers protruding at peak flowering.

fruits: Fruit a shiny black seed surrounded by a dark, wrinkled membrane.

comments: Larger plants may contain over 100 stems branching from the center, attaining a diameter of more than 3 ft.

cultural notes:

germination code:

native range: