Amaranth << AM uh ranth >> is the common name of a genus (group) of plants that includes weeds, garden flowers, and crops. This genus is made up chiefly of herbs. Amaranths grow widely, especially in warm climates. The name amaranth comes from a Greek word meaning unfading. The name was given to amaranths because their flowers remain colored even when dried.
Among the weeds that belong to the amaranth genus are giant pigweed (often called redroot), spreading pigweed, and a kind of tumbleweed. Love-lies-bleeding is an ornamental amaranth with long, drooping, crimson flower clusters. The purple amaranth is a tall plant with late-blooming, pinkish-purple flower clusters. Amaranths cultivated for their edible seeds are called grain amaranths. Amaranth seeds were an important food for the Aztec and Inca peoples.
