Family: Amaranthaceae
High Risk Traits:
- Broad climate suitability and elevation range exceeds 1000 m
- Thrives in tropical climates
- Widely naturalized including all the main Hawaiian Islands
- Crop weed
- Other Amaranthus species are invasive
- Leaf axils with a pair of divergent spines
- Allelopathic
- Can be poisonous to cattle or other grazing animals
- Host of crop pests and pathogens
- Allergenic and cause of hay fever
- Tolerates many soil types
- Reproduces by seeds
- Hybridizes with other Amaranthus species
- Capable of self-pollination
- Annual growth habit
- Seeds dispersed by wind, water, in animal droppings, and as a seed contaminant
- Prolific seed production
- Seeds able to form a persistent seed bank
Low Risk Traits:
- Animals may consume plants, despite spines and toxic properties
- Relatively Shade-intolerant
- Not reported to spread vegetatively
- Herbicides may provide effective control