Amaranthus Species, Needle Burr, Spiny Amaranth, Thorny Pigweed

I marked as 'having' this plant, but it would be just fine by me if I didn't. This is a weed in every sense of the word -- grows everywh...Read Moreere, ugly, difficult to pull out, round-up-ready, tall, rangy, prickly and too seed laden to add to compost pile.

The only redeeming quality that I know of is that horses and cattle love the young plants. Unfortunately, they are too indiscriminate about where they put their feet and what else they eat to let them into the gardens. Reportedly you can add the young plants to salad. I have tasted. It doesn't taste bad -- sort of bland green flavor.

Livestock love when young, but if it grows in very dry conditions and gets large, then it has a high probability of being poisonous. A very real danger when baling maize stubble after combining.

Grow many types of amaranths here in northern Ohio.This one appeared in with my amaranths this summer. It looked similar at beginning gr...Read Moreowth stage to the lime love lies bleeding amaranth that I grow. Found several of these mixed in with other amaranths. Waited to see what I would get if I let it mature. Decided to remove these as they were very thorny and not attractive like my other amaranths. Difficult to pull out of ground due to thorns. Wonder how they got in with my nicer amaranths?

I HATE this plant! It's the worst pain in the crotch to pull and deal with. It comes up, and doesn't stop. Constant weeding and weed wh...Read Moreacking only lets sunlight reach young seedlings, and rebursts with new growth. A small puncture wound results in a deep splinter like pain for days. The only cool thing I could think would come out of this is if it hybridizes with my love lies bleeding. I would love to grow it even though it's invasive. I'd deal with the thorns then.

Eating this sounds interesting.

Sooo.... this plant loves compact soil, loose fertile soil, any soil. And it's a complete thug. Contact with its bejillion thorns is init...Read Moreially painful and later makes a deep ache at the tiny puncture site. My chickens won't even step near it, so they won't eat it, and it sets seedheads even when it's half an inch out of the ground, once the temp reaches over 80 or so. VERY invasive, very nasty, and its sap even has an ugly smell.

Simply: there are MUCH nicer amaranths out there that are also edible, beneficial and nutritious.