Amaranth

Scientific Names

Amaranth

  • Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.
  • Amaranthaceae
  • Amaranth family

Common Names

  • Floramor
  • Flower gentle
  • Lady bleeding
  • Lovely bleeding
  • Love lies bleeding
  • Pilewort
  • Prince’s feather
  • Red cockscomb
  • Spleen amaranth
  • Velvet flower

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Parts Usually Used

Leaves
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Description of Plant(s) and
Culture

Amaranth is an annual herb; its stout, upright stem grows 3-4 feet high and bears alternate, oblong-lanceolate pointed, green leaves that have a red-purplish spot. Its flowers appear in August and grow in clusters. The flowers are not properly flowers, but tufts, with no smell, and of a reddish color. Bruised flowers will yield juice of the same color, dried they make good addition to flower arrangements. Flowering time is from August until frost. Seeds are a shiny black.

Other varieties: Smooth pigweed (A. hybridus); Pigweed or Green Amaranth (A. retroflexus). (also tumbleweed)
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Where Found

Cultivated and occurs wild mainly in the central states of the United States.
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Medicinal Properties

Astringent, hemostatic, nutritive, alterative
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Biochemical Information

Not identified; probably small amount of tannin
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Legends, Myths and Stories

The name is from the Greek, meaning “unfading”.

The ash of amaranth has a very large salt peter content.

Some species of amaranth are known as pigweed. None of the species is poisonous and many are used as potherbs.
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Uses

Taken internally for diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhage from the bowels, nosebleeds, and excessive menstruation. Can be used as a douche for leucorrhea, as a wash for skin problems, and as a gargle for mouth and throat irritations.
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Formulas or Dosages

Infusion or decoction: use 1 tsp. leaves with 1 cup water. Take cold, 1-2 cups a day.

Gargle: 2 tbsp. to 1 quart water, simmered 10 minutes and used as a gargle 3-4 times a day. May be used as a douche for leucorrhea.

Tincture: a dose is 1/2 to 1 tsp.
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Nutrient Content

High in vitamins A and C
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Resource Links

Boost Your Health with Medicinal Herb Sprouts and Microgreens

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Bibliography

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Herbal Recipes, by David C. Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1978, seventh printing, August 1996

Buy It! Chinese Medicinal Herbs, compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.

Buy It! Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992

Buy It! Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

Buy It! Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

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