Mat Amaranth
Amaranthus blitoides
Family: Amaranthaceae
What it is like
Leaves are a substitute for spinach and eaten raw or cooked. They are rich in vitamins and minerals. Naturalized in temperate North America, South America and Eurasia. Common names include: mat amaranth, prostrate pigweed, procumbent pigweed, prostrate amaranth, or matweed.
Amaranthus blitoides is a ANNUAL growing to 0.2 m (0ft 8in) by 0.3 m (1ft). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 6 and is frost tender. It is in leaf from April to October, in flower from August to September, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The species is monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and is pollinated by Wind. The plant is self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 0.2
Where it is found
A weed of disturbed and waste ground.
N. America - Washington to Utah and Mexico, east to Maine and New Jersey.
Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed.
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 2
Leaves - raw or cooked. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is used as a spinach. The leaves can be dried and used as a winter food. Seed - raw or cooked. Very small and fiddly, about 1.5mm in diameter, but the seed is very nutritious. Rich in starch. The seed can be ground into a powder and used in making porridge, bread, mush, as a flavouring in soups etc. The seed can be cooked whole, and becomes very gelatinous like this, but it is rather difficult to crush all of the small seeds in the mouth and thus some of the seed will pass right through the digestive system without being assimilated.
Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.
Medicine
Rating: 0
Other
Rating: 1
Yellow and green dyes can be obtained from the whole plant. A glue is made from the plant. No more information is given, it is likely that the starch from the seed was used.
Adhesive: Glues.
Dye: Plants that provide dyes.
Dynamic accumulator: Plants that gather minerals or nutrients from the soil and store them in a more bioavailable form and in high concentration in their tissues. Used as fertilizer or to improve mulch.
How it is grown
Prefers a well-drained fertile soil in a sunny position. Requires a hot sheltered position if it is to do well. Plants should not be given inorganic fertilizers, see notes above on toxicity. There is some confusion over the correct name for this species, some authorities say that it is part of A. graecizans, whilst others say that it is a distinct species. Most if not all members of this genus photosynthesize by a more efficient method than most plants. Called the 'C4 carbon-fixation pathway', this process is particularly efficient at high temperatures, in bright sunlight and under dry conditions.
Propagating it: Seed - sow late spring in situ. An earlier sowing can be made in a greenhouse and the plants put out after the last expected frosts. Germination is usually rapid and good if the soil is warm. A drop in temperature overnight aids germination. Cuttings of growing plants root easily.
Best place to grow: Cultivated Beds;
Habit: Annual
Hardiness: 6-10
Growth:
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Moist
Things to keep in mind
No members of this genus are known to be poisonous, but when grown on nitrogen-rich soils they are known to concentrate nitrates in the leaves. This is especially noticeable on land where chemical fertilizers are used. Nitrates are implicated in stomach cancers, blue babies and some other health problems. It is inadvisable, therefore, to eat this plant if it is grown inorganically.
Possibly weedy or invasive in Nebraska, Northeast and west US.