Amaranthus powellii
Powell's amaranth
Family: Amaranthaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Powell's amaranth is a California native perennial found in the North Coast Ranges, Central High Sierra, Sierra Nevada Foothills, northern and central Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Central Western California, southwestern California, White and Inyo Mountains, and Modoc Plateau in agricultural fields and disturbed areas at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from June to October, this plant produces green flowers with erect terminal panicles 3 to 12 centimeters long. Growing with erect stems 25 to 150 centimeters tall, characterized by distinctive green stems with purple stripes and branching patterns. Its leaves are elliptic to rhombic, 30 to 80 millimeters long with wedge-shaped bases and flat margins, featuring petioles 30 to 60 millimeters long. The fruit is small, 2 to 3 millimeters long, ovoid, and gray-cream to light brown with seeds that are dark brown to black and shiny.
Habitat: Agricultural fields, disturbed areas
Bloom period: Jun-Oct
Elevation: < 1500 m
Bioregions: NCoRO, CaRH, SNF, n&c SNH, GV, CW, SW, W&I, MP
California counties: San Diego, Ventura, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Plumas, San Bernardino, Solano, Mono, Santa Cruz, Modoc, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, Sonoma, Orange, San Mateo, Monterey, Napa, Yuba, San Francisco, Inyo, El Dorado, Sutter, Sierra, Alameda, Sacramento, Contra Costa, Kern, San Luis Obispo, Butte, Nevada, Lassen, Tehama, Siskiyou, Marin, Amador, Mendocino, Yolo, Stanislaus
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.