台湾苋 tai wan xian

Stem to 2 m tall, glabrous or somewhat soft pubescent. Petiole 3-8 cm; leaf blade ovate to rhombic-ovate, 6-12 × 4-7 cm, pale and soft pubescent on abaxial veins, adaxially glabrous, base cuneate, margin entire or slightly undulate, apex acute to subobtuse. Complex thyrsoid structures terminal and in apical axils, greenish, the terminal to 25 cm, much branched, composed of many lateral spikes. Bracts green, 2-4 mm, membranous near base, long pointed. Tepals 5, oblong-lanceolate, slightly shorter than utricle, 1.5-2 mm, apex obtuse or slightly mucronulate. Stamens 5. Utricles compressed, circumscissile. Seeds black, shiny, ca. 1 mm in diam.

Waste places, roadsides. Taiwan [native to tropical America].

One of us (Clemants) prefers to treat this as a synonym of Amaranthus cruentus.