Perennial herb with stems erect or spreading. Leaves ovate to obovate, green to variously coloured, tip with a short spine. Flowers in whitish to creamy clusters.
Mexico to Argentina
A bedding plant available in a range of leaf colour cultivars including:
Source: (1997). Amaranthaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Alternanthera ficoidea 'Amoena'
Dwarf plants with leaves blotched and veined with red and orange.
Alternanthera ficoidea 'Aurea Nana'
Leaves yellow.
Alternanthera ficoidea 'Bettzickiana'
Leaves spatular-shaped and variegated in yellow and red.
Alternanthera ficoidea 'Versicolor'
Leaves roundish, green, copper or red leaves with purplish to pink veins.
