Amaranthus blitoides S.Wats.
Diagnostic description:
A generally hairless, annual, with decumbent stems from 15 to 60 cm long, often reddish. Leaves lanceolate, up to 5 cm long, pointed or blunt, often with pale markings on them. Flowers tiny, green or reddish, with 5 unequal perianth segments up to 3 mm long, forming clusters in the leaf axil. Seeds black, about 1.5 mm across, in capsules up to 2.5 mm long.
Distribution:
Local: Common and widespread throughout Gibraltar, though mainly in urban areas and not the Upper Rock.
Global: A native of South America and naturalised in central and southern Europe and in northern Africa.
Ecology:
Flowers between (April) May, June and July (August).
Habitat:
Grows on waste ground and as a weed in cultivated areas.