What flower is Amaranthus tricolor? Here is the latest introduction
Amaranthus tricolor is also known as laolaishao, tricolor amaranth, leaf cockscomb, laolaijiao, xiangyanghong, etc. It is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Amaranthus in the Amaranthaceae family. As an excellent foliage plant, it can be used as a flowerbed background, hedge, or planted in clumps along roadsides. It can also be planted in large patches in lawns, forming brilliant patterns with various flowers and plants, and can also be used for potted plants and cut flowers. Its leaves change color right when “wild geese fly south”, so people gave it a beautiful name——Amaranthus tricolor.
Amaranthus tricolor has erect stems, 15-45 cm tall, single or branched, covered with glandular hairs. The lower leaves are opposite, and the upper leaves are alternate, broadly ovate, oblong, and lanceolate, with soft hairs on the leaf surface and no petioles. The paniculate cyme is terminal, with short soft hairs, and the pedicels are very short. The calyx is tubular, and the calyx lobes are lanceolate-subulate. The corolla is salverform, in colors such as light red, deep red, purple, white, and light yellow. The stamens and style are much shorter than the corolla. The capsule is elliptical, with a persistent calyx below. The seeds are oblong and brown.
Amaranthus tricolor is native to tropical Asia and is widely cultivated in China, distributed in mainland China as well as India, Japan, Central Asia, and other places. It is drought-tolerant but not cold-tolerant, prefers humid, sunny, and well-ventilated environments, and prefers fertile, well-drained soil. It likes humid, sunny, and well-ventilated environments, and avoids waterlogging and damp heat. It has low soil requirements, is suitable for well-drained fertile soil, has a certain tolerance to alkalinity, and can self-sow and reproduce.
Amaranthus tricolor is propagated by sowing in May in spring, usually by direct sowing in an open-field seedbed. Shade is needed during sowing. Because its seeds naturally fall to the ground after maturing, seeds must be collected in time. Pay attention to management after sowing, keep the soil moist, and maintain the temperature at 15-20°C; seedlings can emerge in about 7 days. In tropical low-latitude areas, it is often sown in winter, emerges in May-June of the following year, and the tip leaves can change color, with a relatively long ornamental period.
The propagation quantity of Amaranthus tricolor by cuttings is relatively small, so it is rarely used, but it is often used to maintain the excellent characteristics of the mother plant, or because the number of sown seedlings is insufficient to meet demand and the sowing season has passed, it can also be propagated by cuttings. Cuttings are taken during its growing season. Cut the middle and upper branches as cuttings, cut them into 10-15 cm lengths, with a flat cut surface, and the lower cut about 2 mm from the leaf base. They can be inserted into fine sand, vermiculite, or perlite. If the cuttings are soaked in 0.1% ABD rooting agent for 1-2 days, rooting can be advanced by 2-3 days.
According to legend, by the Salt River, there was a young man named Yanzi and a girl named Hongxiang. The young man was handsome and the girl was beautiful, and they were a good pair, one farming and the other weaving, and they had arranged their marriage. One day, the local bully colluded with the government office to send Yanzi far away to do hard labor, and forced Hongxiang to marry the bully's son. Hongxiang was extremely angry and dashed her head against a tree until she died. Later, flowers grew on her grave. When Yanzi heard the news that Hongxiang had died, he died of grief and his body turned into a wild goose. When the goose flew to Hongxiang's grave, the leaves of the flower turned bright red, so this plant was called “Amaranthus tricolor”.