Amaranthaceae
Annual or perennial herbs, rarely shrubs, lianes or trees. Lvs alternate or opposite, simple, exstipulate. Fls small, ⚥, arranged in spikes, heads or racemes, usually conspicuously bracteate; bracts and bracteoles often scarious. Tepals (corresponding to sepals) (2)-3-5, free or nearly so, imbricate, nearly always scarious. Petals O. Stamens (1)-5, opposite the tepals; filaments united basally; staminodes present or 0. Ovary superior, 1-locular; ovules usually solitary; stigma capitate or 2-3-lobed. Fr. (utricle) indehiscent or with circumscissile dehiscence; pericarp usually dry and membranous, less commonly fr. baccate. Seeds globose, ellipsoid or compressed, smooth or verrucose, endospermic.
Key
c. 65 genera, 800 spp., mainly tropical and subtropical, rarely temperate.
