Variety
Amaranthus hypochondriacus
Lady bleeding, love-lies bleeding. pliewort, prince's feather, red cockscomb, spleen amaranth, flower velure, floramor, velvet flower

Botany
· A stout, erect, smooth, branched herb, 0.4 to 1 m high. Stems with slender axillary spines. The presence of spines differentiate it from kolitis (Amaranthus viridis).
· Leaves: glabrous, long-petioled, oblong to oblong ovate, or elliptic-lanceolate, 4 to 10 cm long, obtuse, alternate.
· Flowers: very numerous, stalkless, green or greening-white, about 1 mm long and born in dense, axillary clusters and in elongated terminal axillary spikes. Sepals, 5 or 1-3, ovate to linear, often aristate. Petals, scarious. Bracts, linear, bristle-pointed and as long as the sepals or longer.
· Fruits: utricles, wrinkled, nearly as long as the sepals.
· Seeds, minute, black and shining.

Distribution
Found throughout the Philippines at lowlands and low altitudes.
A common weed on roadsides and wastelands.

Parts utilized
· Roots, stems and leaves.
· Harvest the root at any time of the year.
· Wash thoroughly, cut into pieces and sun-dry.
· The plant can be eaten as a vegetable.

Characteristics and Pharmacological Effects
· Slightly sweet-tasting, mildly refrigerant in nature. A good expectorant. Antifebrile, an effective astringent especially in stopping liquid bowels.
· Locally, it has been reported that a decoction of the root can cure gonorrhea and relieve one's breathing from acute bronchitis.

Uses
Nutritional
Plant , especially the young leaves, can be used as vegetable, as a spinach substitute.
Folkloric
· Decoction of roots has been used for treatment of gonorrhea.
· Bacillary dysentery, diarrhea, acute and chronic gastroenteritis, urinary tract inflammation.
· Fever, bronchitis.
· Lactation.
· Bruised leaves for skin eczema.
· Snake bites.
· Bleeding in piles.
· Dosage: Use 30 to 60 gms of dried material or 60 to 120 gms of fresh material, as infusion or decoction. For external application, employ decoction of fresh material as wash for ulcers and sores. Decoction also used as gargle for sore throat.
· Bleeding hemorrhoids: Uray can be combined with Verbena officinalis and boiled into decoction. To the decoction, add a small amount of vinegar and drink. Bleeding should cease the following day.
· All amaranths are recommended for coughs.
· Contraindicated during pregnancy.

Availability
Wild-crafted.