Order 2. =Amarantaceæ.= The flowers are essentially the same as in the _Chenopodiaceæ_ and the extremely reduced Caryophyllaceæ (Fig. 361 _F_); they are regular, hypogynous, generally ☿, have 5 free (rarely slightly united) perianth-leaves; in front of these 5 stamens, which _are often united_ at their base into a shorter or longer tube and have stipule-like teeth between them (the division _Gomphreneæ_ has 2-locular anthers, each of which opens longitudinally); and a 2–3 carpellate gynœceum with one loculus and most frequently one, more rarely several ovules; the fruit is a nut, more rarely (in _Celosia_, _Amarantus_, _Gomphrena_) a capsule, dehiscing irregularly, or like a pyxidium. The characters which especially separate them from the allied orders are found in the perianth. The perianth-leaves are not green and herbaceous, but _membranous, dry, and often coloured_; they are frequently produced into a bristle or awn; they have also both subtending floral-leaves and _2 large bracteoles similar to the perianth_; all these dry leaves persist without alteration after the withering of the flower.--The flowers are without scent. They are arranged in spike- or capitulum-like inflorescences; sometimes placed singly, sometimes aggregated in the panicle-like inflorescences; in others, on the contrary, in dichasia. The majority are herbs, some are shrubs. The leaves are scattered, or opposite, but always simple and without stipules; some are smooth, others hairy. 450 species; especially in the Tropics, principally S. Am. and E. Ind.: few are found outside these countries.--Only a few are used; some, chiefly E. Indian species, are cultivated as ornamental plants: _Amaranthus_ (Fox-tail); _Gomphrena globosa_; _Celosia cristata_ (Cock’s-comb) remarkable for its fasciated inflorescence; _Alternanthera_. Some are employed as culinary plants in the Tropics, and in a few of the E. Indian species the seeds are farinaceous, and used for food.