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Amaranthus brownii
Brown's amaranth was a small annual herb found only on Nīhoa in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands; it is now considered extinct and is not grown as a garden plant.
Amaranthus brownii was an annual herb in the family Amaranthaceae. The plant was found only on the small island of Nīhoa in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, growing on rocky outcrops at altitudes of 120–215 m (394–705 ft). It was one of nine species of Amaranthus in the Hawaiian Islands, as well as the only endemic Hawaiian species of the genus. It is now considered extinct.
A. brownii was first discovered during the Tanager Expedition in 1923 by botanist Edward Leonard Caum. It differed from other Hawaiian species of Amaranthus with its spineless leaf axils, linear leaves, and indehiscent fruits. It was one of 26 vascular plants on Nīhoa, 17 of which are indigenous, six alien, and three endemic only to Nīhoa; these latter three included A. brownii, the Nīhoa fan palm or loulu, and the Nīhoa carnation. A.
Amaranthus brownii had a very limited range; it was found only on the 0.65 km2 (0.25 sq mi) island of Nīhoa, located 275 km (171 mi) northwest of Kauai. It is thought that this endemic plant had probably always been rare and restricted to Nīhoa. Its former habitat is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and protected as part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. A. brownii was one of three endemic and endangered species only found on Nīhoa, along with the Nīhoa fan palm (Pritchardia remota) and the Nīhoa carnation (Schiedea verticillata). At least nine other native plant species can be found in its habitat, including Hawaiian goosefoot (Chenopodium oahuense), lovegrass (Eragrostis variablis), koali ʻawa (Ipomoea indica), goat's foot (Ipomoea pes-caprae subsp. brasiliensis), Panicum torridum, naupaka (Scaevola sericea), Sicyos pachycarpus, ʻilima (Sida fallax), and Nelson's horsenettle (Solanum nelsonii).
Greenstripe · Prostrate pigweed · Mat amaranth · Purple 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 brownii 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.
