The Grain Amaranths and Their Relatives: A Revised Taxonomic and Geographic Survey

Much new information on this species group has accumulated in the years since my initial survey was carried out in the graduate laboratory of the Henry Shaw School of Botany (Sauer, 1950a).Many people have volunteered original field observations and collections from various places in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.Archaeologists have turned up the first material evidence of pre-Columbian grain amaranth cultivation in North America (Bohrer, 1962).Gradually, incidental to other work, I have had chances to study historically important collections in major European herbaria.Experimental plantings have answered some questions about variation patterns.Several long-standing taxonomic problems can now be resolved, classification simplified, and nomenclature corrected.To make the revised presentation intelligible by itself, some information will be reviewed briefly, but without repeating details or documentation.