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Amaranthaceae family

Bigelow's Amaranth Amaranthus bigelovii

Native

Bigelow's Amaranth is an annual wildflower native to the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Amaranthus bigelovii is a flowering plant commonly known as Bigelow's amaranth. It is an annual plant native to New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 8 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Annual
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~29 caterpillar species

Amaranthus supports ~29 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a moderate genus.

Recorded feeding on Amaranthus in North America, including:

Achyra similalis · snout moth Agrotis ipsilon · Dark Sword-Grass Agrotis subterranea · owlet moth Amyna octo · owlet moth Anacamptodes fragilaria · geometer (inchworm) moth Coleophora amaranthella · casebearer moth
+ 8 more species →
Coleophora lineapulvella · casebearer moth Dicymolomia julianalis · Julia's Dicymolomia Discestra trifolii · owlet moth Disclisioprocta stellata · Somber Carpet Epiblema otiosana · Bidens Borer Erynnis martialis · Mottled Duskywing Estigmene acrea · Salt Marsh Moth Helicoverpa zea · Corn Earworm
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (10) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[09] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[10] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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