Globe amaranth is a heat-loving tropical annual grown for its round, long-lasting flowerheads that keep their colour when dried. It thrives in full sun and is fairly drought tolerant once established.
Family
Amaranthaceae (Amaranth & beet family)
Grows as
Annual
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then let the soil dry between waterings; it tolerates drought well.
Soil
Well-drained garden soil or potting mix; tolerates average to poor soil.
Temperature
Warm conditions suit it best; it is very heat tolerant, and frost will kill it.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
Mexico to Brazil
Climate
seasonally dry tropical
About
Gomphrena globosa, commonly known as globe amaranth, is an edible plant from the family Amaranthaceae. The round-shaped flower inflorescences are a visually dominant feature and cultivars have been propagated to exhibit shades of magenta, purple, red, orange, white, pink, and lilac. Within the flowerheads, the true flowers are small and inconspicuous.
Gomphrena globosa is native to Central America including regions Panama, and Guatemala, but is now grown globally. As a tropical annual plant, G. globosa blooms continuously throughout summer and early fall. It is very heat tolerant and fairly drought resistant, but grows best in full sun and regular moisture. The plant fixes carbon through the C4 pathway. At maturity, the flowerheads are approximately 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long and the plant grows up to 24 inches (61 cm) in height.
Uses
In Hawaii, it is commonly used in long-lasting leis since it retains its shape and color after drying.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gomphrena globosa 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.