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Amaranthus blitum
Also called Least amaranth, Guernsey Pigweed, Livid Amaranth, Pigweed, Slender Amaranth
Purple amaranth is a fast-growing annual weed-like herb with green or purplish leaves, often eaten as a wild green. It grows easily in open, disturbed ground and needs little care.
Amaranthus blitum, commonly called purple amaranth or Guernsey pigweed, is an annual plant species in the economically important plant family Amaranthaceae. It has a number of culinary uses.
Native to the Mediterranean region, it is naturalized in other parts of the world, including much of eastern North America, much of tropical Africa, Western Europe and Japan. In Britain it was first recorded in the wild in 1771 when it appeared in Essex. It occurred more frequently in scattered locations in southern England in the 19th century but has since decreased. It is established in Guernsey and elsewhere as a casual plant, springing up on waste ground, rubbish tips and cultivated areas, probably from wool waste, coconut fibre or birdseed.
Although not cultivated, this plant is gathered from the wild and eaten in many parts of the world. The Greeks refer to A. blitum var. silvestre as vlita (Modern Greek: βλίτα) and eat the leaves and the cooked tender shoots, served with olive oil, lemon and salt. In Lebanon (especially to the north) a side dish is made from the young shoots; they are cooked in olive oil, onion, chilli, and burghul, seasoned with salt and lemon, and eaten with pita.
Greenstripe · Prostrate pigweed · Mat amaranth · Brown's amaranth · Love-lies-bleeding · Red amaranth · Spleen amaranth · Mediterranean amaranth · Slim amaranth · Prince-of-Wales feather · African amaranth · Carelessweed
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Amaranthus blitum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
