Achyranthes

Achyranthes
A. splendens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Amaranthoideae
Genus: Achyranthes
L.
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]
  • Achiranthes P.Browne, orth. var.
  • Achyropsis (Moq.) Hook.f.
  • Amorgine Raf.
  • Cadelari Adans.
  • Cadelaria Raf.
  • Cyathula Lour.
  • Nototrichium Hillebr.
  • Stachyarpagophora Vaill. ex M.Gómez

Achyranthes is a genus of medicinal and ornamental plants in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae. Chaff flower is a common name for plants in this genus.[2] The Hawaiian species (A. divaricata, A. humile, and A. sandwicensis) are known in Hawaiian as kuluʻī.[3]

A 2024 morphological and phylogenetic analysis by Vanessa Di Vincenzo et al. merged the genus Achyropsis and the Hawaiian genus Nototrichium into Achyranthes to make it monophyletic. The genus is characterized by solitary, fertile flowers.[4]

Species

33 species are accepted.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Achyranthes L." Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b NRCS. "Achyranthes". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  3. ^ Pukui, Mary Kawena; Samuel H. Elbert (1986). Hawaiian dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian. University of Hawaii Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-8248-0703-0.
  4. ^ Di Vincenzo, V., Berendsohn, W., Wondafrash, M. and Borsch, T. (2025), Phylogenetics and morphological character evolution in the achyranthoid clade (Amaranthaceae): Evidence to re-circumscribe the genera Achyranthes and Cyathula and to resurrect a third species of the former genus Sericocomopsis in East Africa. Taxon, 74: 66-100. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.13284