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Amaranthus palmeri
Also called Dioecious Amaranth, Palmer's Amaranth, Palmer's Pigweed, Palmer’s Pigweed, Palmer Amaranth
Carelessweed is a fast-growing annual weed native to the southern half of North America, notorious in farm fields for its competitiveness. The leaves and seeds are edible, but plants grown in heavily fertilized soil can accumulate harmful nitrates.
Amaranthus palmeri is a species of edible flowering plant in the amaranth genus. It has several common names, including carelessweed, dioecious amaranth, Palmer's amaranth, Palmer amaranth, and Palmer's pigweed.
It is native to most of the southern half of North America. Populations in the eastern United States are probably naturalized. It has also been introduced to Europe, Australia, and other areas. The plant is fast-growing and highly competitive.
The leaves, stems, and seeds of Palmer amaranth, like those of other amaranths, are edible and highly nutritious. Palmer amaranth was once widely cultivated and eaten by Native Americans across North America, both for its abundant seeds and as a cooked or dried green vegetable. Other related Amaranthus species have been grown as crops for their greens and seeds for thousands of years in Mexico, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, India, and China.
Greenstripe · Prostrate pigweed · Mat amaranth · Purple amaranth · Brown's amaranth · Love-lies-bleeding · Red amaranth · Spleen amaranth · Mediterranean amaranth · Slim amaranth · Prince-of-Wales feather · African amaranth
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Amaranthus palmeri 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.
