AMARANTA'CE4E, Amaranths, a natural order of Apetalous Dicotyledonous plants, remarkable for the dry coloured scales of which all their bracts and floral envelopes are composed—a character by which they are principally known from Cholopodiacar. Their essential distinction is briefly this : calyx, dry, coloured, not falling away; petals, wanting; stamens, five or more ; ovarium, quite simple, superior ; fruit, an utricle, containing a single seed, which has an embryo curved round a central farinaceous albumen; leaves, destitute of stipules.
The species are found chiefly in tropical countries, where they are often troublesome weeds. The Cock's-Comb, the Globe-Amaranth, the Prince's-Feather, the Love-Lies-Bkeding, of our gardens, belong to this order.
Many of the species are used In the countries where they grow as pot-herbs, and indeed none of them present any unwholesome properties. The seeds of A marant h 114 frumentacou and A. A nerd ham are gathered as corn crops in India. A large number of the species have a reputation for possessing medicinal properties, but, as us the case with the majority of such remedies, they seldom bear out the encomiums bestowed upon them by the ignorant. (Lindley, 'Vegetable Kingdom.') order of Monocotyledonous plants, to which the Daffodil, the Belladonna Lily and Guernsey Lily, the showy Brunsvigias and Blood-Flowers (thentanthus) of the Cape of Good Hope, and the American Aloe belong.
They are characterise-N.1 by having six stamens, a highly-coloured flower, and an inferior ovary. The beauty of their blossoms serve as a cloak to their poisonous properties, and shows how little the external appearances of plants are to be trusted in judging of their virtues. To form an opinion only from their aspect, these would be pronounced the most harmless of plants, while in fact their bulbs are dangerous poisons. The juice of that of Hainanthus toxicarius is inspissated by the Hottentots, who smear their arrow-heads with it ; other kinds are not leas fatal, and even the common daffodil and snowdrop contain within their bulbs an acrid irritating principle which renders them emetic. Like many other poisonous families, this occasionally secretes a kind of fcecula, or flour, which, when separated from the juice that is naturally mixed with it, becomes a wholesome article of food. The arrow-root of Chili is yielded by an AlstriMieria, which belongs to A ma ryll idacem.
The species, which are chiefly scattered over Brazil, Africa, and tropical Asia, are nearly all bulbous ; a few only acquire a high degree of development, and lose their bulbous character, as the Doryanthes, Agave, and Lithea. [Mew.]