Amaranthus californicus

Californian amaranth

Family: Amaranthaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Californian amaranth is a California native perennial found in seasonally moist flats, lake margins, and disturbed areas at elevations below 2,800 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces green flowers in small axillary clusters. Growing as a prostrate, mat-forming plant with green stems 10 to 50 centimeters long, it spreads across the ground in low, sprawling patches. Its leaves are small and delicate, with obovate to oblanceolate blades 3 to 20 millimeters long, featuring wedge-shaped bases and obtuse to slightly acute tips. The plant produces tiny dark red-brown, shiny seeds that are lenticular and smooth, measuring 0.8 to 1.1 millimeters.

Habitat: Seasonally moist flats, lake margins, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 2800 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Yolo, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Kern, Plumas, Napa, San Mateo, Tuolumne, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Ventura, Marin, Fresno, Nevada, Modoc, Lake, Glenn, San Diego, Butte, Lassen, Sierra, Yuba, Colusa, Placer, Tehama, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Santa Clara, Solano, Merced, Mono, Calaveras, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, El Dorado, Tulare, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Orange

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.