Amaranthus Hybridus Hypochondriacus
Amaranthus hypochondriacus is an ornamental plant commonly known as Prince-of-Wales feather[3] or prince's-feather.[4][5] Originally endemic to Mexico, it is called quelite, bledo[6] and quintonil in Spanish.[7][8]
amaranthus hybridus hypochondriacus
Transgenic A. hypochondriacus and A. hybridus roots were generated. Further, a distinct plant regeneration program via somatic embryos produced from hairy roots was established. Work was implemented to develop an optimized protocol for root genetic transformation of the three grain amaranth species and A. hybridus, their presumed ancestor. Transformation efficiency was species-specific, being higher in A. hypochondriacus and followed by A. hybridus. Amaranthus cruentus and A. caudatus remained recalcitrant. A reliable and efficient Agrobacteruim rhizogenes-mediated transformation of these species was established using cotyledon explants infected with the previously untested BVG strain. Optimal OD600 bacterial cell densities were 0.4 and 0.8 for A. hypochondriacus and A. hybridus, respectively. Hairy roots of both amaranth species were validated by the amplification of appropriate marker genes and, when pertinent, by monitoring green fluorescent protein emission or β-glucuronidase activity. Embryogenic calli were generated from A. hypochondriacus rhizoclones. Subsequent somatic embryo maturation and germination required the activation of cytokinin signaling, osmotic stress, red light, and calcium incorporation. A crucial step to ensure the differentiation of germinating somatic embryos into plantlets was their individualization and subcultivation in 5/5 media containing 5% sucrose, 5 g/L gelrite, and 0.2 mg/L 2-isopentenyladenine (2iP) previously acidified to pH 4.0 with phosphoric acid, followed by their transfer to 5/5 + 2iP media supplemented with 100 mg/L CaCl2. These steps were strictly red light dependent. This process represents a viable protocol for plant regeneration via somatic embryo germination from grain amaranth transgenic hairy roots. Its capacity to overcome the recalcitrance to genetic transformation characteristic of grain amaranth has the potential to significantly advance the knowledge of several unresolved biological aspects of grain amaranths.
Smooth amaranth, smooth pigweed, green amaranth, green pigweed, hybrid amaranth Plants glabrous or glabrescent, or distal parts of stem and branches slightly pubescent when young. Stems erect, green or sometimes reddish purple, rarely under-developed plants ascending, branched to nearly simple, 0.3-2(-2.5) m. Leaves: petiole 1/2 as long as to equaling blade; blade ovate, rhombic-ovate, or lanceolate, (2-)4-15 (1-)2-6 cm, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, with mucro. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, erect or reflexed, occasionally nodding, green or olive green, occasionally with silvery or reddish purple tint, leafless at least distally, terrminal inflorescence often slightly nodding with numerous shorter branches at base. Bracts lanceolate-linear to subulate, 2-3.5(-4) mm, subequal to or 2 times as long as tepals }, apex spinescent. Pistillate flowers: tepals 5, lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, subequal or unequal, 1.5-3 mm, membranaceous, apex acute or acuminate, gradually narrowing into aristate tip; style branches erect, shorter than body of fruit; stigmas 3. Staminate flowers at tips of inflorescences; tepals 5; stamens (4-)5. Utricles obovoid or elongate-ovoid, 1.5-2.5 mm, shorter than tepals, smooth proximally, lid verrucose or rugose, dehiscence regularly circumscissile, or rarely in some presumably hybrid forms, irregularly dehiscent or indehiscent. Seeds black to dark reddish brown, lenticular to lenticular-globose, 1-1.3 mm, smooth, shiny.Flowering summer-fall. Waste places, agricultural and fallow fields, railroads, roadsides, riverbanks, other disturbed habitats; 0-2500 m; B.C., Man., N.S., Ont., Que.; Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; widely introduced or naturalized in tropical, subtropical, and warm-temperate regions worldwide.Originally a riverside pioneer in eastern North America, now Amaranthus hybridus is extremely abundant in agricultural fields and other disturbed habitats. Related cultivated species have been reported from the flora area, including A. caudatus, A. hypochondriacus, and A. cruentus; there is no evidence that they are established; specimens identified as these species are often variants of A. hybridus.Distribution of Amaranthus hybridus in North America needs clarification because the name was misapplied to other species, notably A. powellii, and specimens of A. retroflexus, A. powellii, and A. hybridus are frequently interchangeably misidentified. Forms of A. hybridus and A. powellii with reddish inflorescences are often misidentified as escaped and hence presumably naturalized, cultivated species A. caudatus Linnaeus, A. hypochondriacus Linnaeus, and A. cruentus Linnaeus.Amaranthus hybridus is extremely variable. In particular, there are numerous North American specimens with subobtuse tepals and thick inflorescences, suggesting hybridization with A. retroflexus. In Europe such presumably hybrid forms are known as A. ozanonii Thellung (A. Thellung 1914-1919).A new, presumably hybridogenous taxon, Amaranthus tucsonensis Henrickson, was recently described from Arizona (J. Henrickson 1999). It was suggested that one of its parents is A. hybridus; the other parental species (probably a species with obtuse or spatulate tepals) remains unknown. The problem of proper taxonomic position and origin of A. tucsonensis needs further study.
These two pictures, from the same patch on the South Side as the ones that appeared here yesterday, seemed worth adding to the collection. The one above gives us a close view of the inflorescence (click to make it even bigger), which might help any botanical enthusiasts give us a better identification if indeed Father Pitt is wrong about this being Amaranthus hypochondriacus.
A large and vigorous patch of these amaranths was happily blooming from sidewalk cracks and other unlikely footholds around a little rowhouse on the South Side. Closely related species of Amaranthus are notoriously hard to distinguish, and botanists disagree on the classification; Gray regards Amaranthus hypochondriacus as a form of Amaranthus hybridus. Any reader who can do a better job of identifying these plants is encouraged to do so, even begged to do so. At any rate, it is a striking flower, closely related to the garden favorite Love-Lies-Bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus). As distinguishing features of this plant, note the numerous flower stalks from leaf axils up and down the stem, the long petioles (about the length of the leaves), and the thickish inflorescences with a habit of sagging.
Amaranthus hypochondriacus originates from North America, possibly as a hybrid between the north American wild Amaranthus powellii S.Wats. and the cultivated Amaranthus cruentus L. Amaranthus hypochondriacus is now widely cultivated worldwide, in tropical, subtropical and temperate climates, but mainly as a grain and ornamental crop. It is also found in tropical Africa (e.g. Kenya), but its exact distribution is unknown because of confusion with related species.
Amaranthus comprises about 70 species, of which about 40 are native to the Americas. It includes at least 17 species with edible leaves and 3 grain amaranths. Amaranthus hypochondriacus belongs to both categories. Amaranthus hypochondriacus is part of the so-called Amaranthus hybridus complex, a group of species in which taxonomic problems are far from clarified because of apparently common hybridization and nomenclatural disorder caused by misapplication of names. Several cultivars of Amaranthus hypochondriacus exist; most of these have pale seeds, but some have black seeds.
Amaranthus hypochondriacus as a vegetable amaranth grows well at day temperatures above 25C and night temperatures not lower than 15C, but it is grown as a grain crop up to 2000 m altitude in the Himalayas. Shade is disadvantageous except in cases of drought. Amaranth is a quantitative short-day plant, which is an advantage in the subtropics, where the conversion to the generative stage is retarded during summer. Amaranths like fertile, well-drained soils with a loose structure. The mineral uptake is very high. Although Amaranthus hypochondriacus is fairly tolerant of adverse climate and soil conditions, escapes growing as a weed tend to disappear because they cannot compete with true weeds like Amaranthus spinosus L. or Amaranthus hybridus L.
A collection of amaranths is kept at the Rodale Organic Gardening and Farming Research Center (OGFRC) at Kutztown, Pennsylvania, United States; South-East Asian accessions are kept at the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) at Tainan, Taiwan. African cultivars and introductions from OGFRC are kept at the National Horticultural Research Institute (NHR) in Nigeria and African cultivars at the AVRDC centre at Arusha, Tanzania. Indian collections are maintained at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in New Delhi, India. Many national institutes have small working collections of local cultivars. Evaluation and variability studies are needed to reveal the amount of exploitable genetic variation. Breeding of Amaranthus hypochondriacus as a leafy vegetable does not occur; all efforts are directed toward development of good seed cultivars. 041b061a72