中文名（Chinese Name）：三色苋
学名（Scientific Name）：Amaranthus tricolor Linn.
英文名（English Common Name）：Joseph's-coat
别名（Chinese Common Name）：苋、雁来红、老来少
异名（Synonym）：Amaranthus mangostanus L.；Amaranthus gangeticus var. angustior Bailey； Amaranthus amboinicus Buch.-Ham. ex Wall.；Amaranthus bicolor Nocca ex Willd.；Amaranthus cuspidatus Vis.；Amaranthus flexuosus Moq.；Amaranthus inamoenus Willd.；Amaranthus incomptus Willd.；Amaranthus lanceolatus Roxb.；Amaranthus salicifolius H.J.Veitch；Amaranthus melancholicus var. obovatus Moq.；Amaranthus melancholicus var. parvifolius Moq.；Amaranthus melancholicus var. tricolor (L.) Lam. ex Moq.；Amaranthus melancholicus L.；Amaranthus tricolor var. gangeticus (L.) Fiori；Amaranthus tricolor var. mangostanus (L.) Aellen；Amaranthus tricolor var. melancholicus (L.) Lam.；Amaranthus rotundifolius Moq.；Amaranthus tristis var. leptostachys Moq.；Blitum gangeticum Moench；Blitum melancholicum Moench；Glomeraria bicolor Cav. ex Moq.；Glomeraria tricolor (L.) Cav.；Pyxidium gangeticum Moq.；Pyxidium melancholicum Moq.
科属（Family & Genus）：苋科（Amaranthaceae）苋属
形态特征（Description）：一年生草本，高80-150厘米；茎粗壮，绿色或红色，常分枝，幼时有毛或无毛。叶片卵形、菱状卵形或披针形，长4-10厘米，宽2-7厘米，绿色或常成红色，紫色或黄色，或部分绿色加杂其他颜色，顶端圆钝或尖凹，具凸尖，基部楔形，全缘或波状缘，无毛；叶柄长2-6厘米，绿色或红色。花簇腋生，直到下部叶，或同时具顶生花簇，成下垂的穗状花序; 花簇球形，直径5-15毫米，雄花和雌花混生；苞片及小苞片卵状披针形，长2.5-3毫米，透明，顶端有1长芒尖，背面具1绿色或红色隆起中脉；花被片矩圆形，长3-4毫米，绿色或黄绿色，顶端有1长芒尖，背面具1绿色或紫色隆起中脉；雄蕊比花被片长或短。胞果卵状矩圆形，长2-2.5毫米，环状横裂，包裹在宿存花被片内。种子近圆形或倒卵形，直径约1毫米，黑色或黑棕色，边缘钝。花期5-8月，果期7-9月。
分布（Distribution）：全国各地均有栽培，有时逸为半野生。原产印度，分布于亚洲南部、中亚、日本等地。
用途（Use）：茎叶作为蔬菜食用；叶杂有各种颜色者供观赏；根、果实及全草入药，有明目、利大小便、去寒热的功效。
引自中国植物志英文版FOC Vol. 5 Page 420
Amaranthus tricolor Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 989. 1753.
苋 xian| Amaranthaceae  | Amaranthus
Amaranthus gangeticus Linnaeus; A. gangeticus var. angustior Bailey; A. mangostanus Linnaeus.
Stem green or red, 80-150 cm tall, stout, often branched. Petiole green or red, 2-6 cm; leaf blade green, red, purple, or yellow, ovate, ovate-rhombic, or lanceolate, 4-10 × 2-7 cm, glabrous, base cuneate, margin entire or undulate, apex obtuse or notched, with a mucro. Flowers in dense clusters at leaf axils or in spike at apex; male and female flowers in same inflorescences. Bracts and bracteoles ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-3 mm, transparent, apex long pointed. Stamens 3. Stigmas 3. Utricles included in perianth, ovate-oblong, 2-2.5 mm, circumscissile. Seeds brownish black, subglobose or obovoid, ca. 1 mm in diam. Fl. May-Aug, fr. Jul-Sep. 2n = 34*, 68, 85*.
Widely cultivated. in China [probably native to tropical Asia; cultivated and naturalized throughout that region].

（责任编辑：徐晔春）