Index / Search / Amaranthus californicus

§1 Plant — species · Amaranthaceae

Amaranthus californicus (Moq.) S. Watson

vernacular California amaranth


USDA
AMCA
GBIF
5384387
Rank
species
California amaranth (Amaranthus californicus)
Platephotograph · Matt LavinCC BY-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Annual
Group
Dicot
Family
Amaranthaceae Martinov
Genus
Amaranthus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
None
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-3 °F minimum
Frost-free days
175 min.
Precipitation
14–24 in/yr
pH range
5.5–7.5
Root depth
4 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Mature height
1 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Red
Fruit colour
Red
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Summer
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
900,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
High
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 2 of 56 Montana counties.

Native · 2 counties

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/AMCA ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5384387 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z