Amaranthus is a cosmopolitan group of more than 50 species which make up the genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some of the more well known names include "prostrate pigweed" and "love lies bleeding". Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely packed flowers grow in summer or fall. Amaranth varies in flower, leaf, and stem color with a range of striking pigments from the spectrum of maroon to crimson and can grow longitudinally from 1 to 2.5 metres tall with a cylindrical, succulent, fibrous stem that is hollow with grooves and bracteoles when mature. There are approximately 75 species in the genus, 10 of which are dioecious and native to North America with the remaining 65 monoecious species endemic to every continent from tropical lowlands to the Himalayas. Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely related genus Celosia. Amaranth grain is collected from the genus. The leaves of some species are also eaten.
Pongal, also referred to as Thai Pongal, is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival celebrated by Tamils. It is observed in the month of Thai according to the Tamil solar calendar and usually falls on 14 or 15 January. It is dedicated to Surya and corresponds to Makar Sankranti, the Hindu observance celebrated under many regional names throughout the Indian subcontinent. The festival is celebrated over three or four days with Bhogi, Surya Pongal, Mattu Pongal and Kanum Pongal, observed on consecutive days.
Robinia hispida, known as the bristly locust, rose-acacia, or moss locust, is a shrub in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, and it is present in other areas, including other regions of North America, as an introduced species. It is grown as an ornamental and can escape cultivation and grow in the wild.
Sida rhombifolia, commonly known as arrowleaf sida, is a perennial or sometimes annual plant in the Family Malvaceae, native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Other common names include rhombus-leaved sida, Paddy's lucerne, jelly leaf, and also somewhat confusingly as Cuban jute, Queensland-hemp, and Indian hemp. Synonyms include Malva rhombifolia. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is known as kurumthotti.
Amaranthus retroflexus is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae with several common names, including red-root amaranth, redroot pigweed, red-rooted pigweed, common amaranth, pigweed amaranth, and common tumbleweed.
Digitalis lanata, vernacularly often called woolly foxglove or Grecian foxglove, is a species of foxglove, a flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It gets its name due to the woolly indumentum of the leaves. D. lanata, like other foxglove species, is toxic in all parts of the plant. Symptoms of digitalis poisoning include nausea, vomiting, severe headache, dilated pupils, problems with eyesight, and convulsions at the worst level of toxicity. The plant is also harmful to other animals.
Borassus flabellifer, commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, lontar palm, wine palm, ထန်းပင် (htan-pin) or ice apple, is a fan palm native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socotra and parts of China.
Aerva javanica, the kapok bush or desert cotton, is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It has a native distribution incorporating much of Africa, and the south-west and south of Asia, and it has become adventitious in northern Australia.
Krascheninnikovia lanata is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae, known by the common name winterfat. It is native to much of western North America: from central Western Canada; through the Western United States; to northern Mexico.
A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to herbaceous plants that die back to the ground until spring.
Heliotropium indicum, commonly known as Indian heliotrope, Indian turnsole is an annual, hirsute plant that is a common weed in waste places and settled areas. It is native to Asia. It is widely used in native medicine in Tamil Nadu, India.
Barleria prionitis is a shrub in the family Acanthaceae, native to Island and Mainland Southeast Asia, China, the Indian Subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula and northeastern Africa. It is widely spread as an ornamental and weed, occurring in naturalised populations around the world. It used not only as an ornamental but also as a hedge and extensively as a component of folk medicines. As a weed it is regarded as problematic in many areas.
Acalypha indica is an herbaceous annual that has catkin-like inflorescences with cup-shaped involucres surrounding the minute flowers. It is mainly known for its root being attractive to domestic cats, and for its various medicinal uses. It occurs throughout the Tropics.
Maerua oblongifolia is a low woody bushy under-shrub sometimes scandent to 2–3 meters high, with a thick root stock and thick leaves, and strongly scented flowers, occurring in India, Pakistan, Africa and Saudi Arabia. In Telugu this plant is known as Bhoochakra gadda and also as Bhoochakra dumpa. In Tamil this plant is called Poomicchakkarai Kizhangu. This is a tuber that naturally grows in areas closer to fountains, especially in hills. Local Tribes and others collect the tubers, which are then sold in many Indian town and cities as a quick street food.
Artemisia pedatifida is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names birdfoot sagebrush and matted sagewort. It is native to a section of the west-central United States encompassing parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, where it occurs on the high plains.
Cornulaca monacantha is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cornulaca, that is now included in the family Amaranthaceae,. It is a desert plant found in the Middle East and the Sahara, and the southern end of its range is considered to delineate the edge of the desert. In Arabic it is known as had and djouri, and the Tuareg people call it tahara. It was first described in 1813 by the French botanist Alire Raffeneau Delile.
Achyranthes japonica, commonly known as Oriental chaff flower or Japanese chaff flower, is a perennial member of the genus Achyranthes in the family Amaranthaceae. It can be discovered on the roadside and its main distribution is in Korea and Japan.
Bhogi is the first day of the four-day Pongal festival. It falls on last day of Margazhi month of Tamil Calendar and Agrahāyaṇa or Mārgaśīrṣa month of Hindu Solar Calendar, which is 13 January by the Gregorian calendar. It is the day before Makar Sankranti, celebrated widely in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
Sclerolaena bicornis, commonly known as goathead burr, is a perennial shrub in the Amaranthaceae family, native to inland Australia, and found in Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales, and Western Australia The Walmajarri people of the Kimberley know the plant as Paka.
Chenopodium spinescens is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to all mainland states and territories of Australia where it is known as Rhagodia spinescens.
