Southwest Desert Flora

Scientific Name: Gomphrena caespitosa
Common Name: Tufted Globe Amaranth
Also Called: Ball Clover, Tufted Ball Clover
Family: Amaranthaceae, Pigweed Family
Synonyms: (Gomphrena viridis)
Status: Native
Duration: Perennial
Size: Up to 6 inches or more.
Growth Form: Forb/herb, subshrub; ascending, growing in tufts or clumps, caespitose, roots woody.
Leaves: Green, mostly basal, short petiole, obovate or oblong, densely grayish with soft thin pilose hairs.
Flower Color: White or yellowish, flower heads rounded, perianth lobes white to yellow, linear to lanceolate.
Flowering Season: April to August.
Elevation: 3,500 to 5,000 feet.

Habitat Preferences: Oak-juniper Woodlands, chaparral, rocky hillsides, dry plains and slopes often with grasses.

Recorded Range: Tufted Globe Amaranth is relatively rare in the United States where it is native only to AZ, NM and marginal populations in TX. It is also found in northern Mexico (Sonora). In Arizona it is found in the north central and south and southeast parts of the state.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Gomphrena caespitosa.

U.S. Weed Information: No data available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No data available.
Wetland Indicator: No data available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No data available.

Comments: Globe Amaranth is one of 3 Gomphrena species found in Arizona. It occurs in the north central, south and southeast parts of the state.

Also see in Southwest Desert Flora also see Pearly Globe Amaranth, Gomphrena nitida and Sonoran Globe Amaranth, Gomphrena sonorae.