Arrowleaf elephant's ear vs coast amaranth

Xanthosoma sagittifolium compared with Amaranthus pumilus

Key Differences

• Arrowleaf elephant's ear is Not Evaluated while coast amaranth is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Arrowleaf elephant's ear	coast amaranth
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Alismatales (Alismatales)	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)
Family	Araceae	Amaranthaceae
Genus	Xanthosoma	Amaranthus
Species	Xanthosoma sagittifolium	Amaranthus pumilus

Evolutionary Relationship

Arrowleaf elephant's ear and coast amaranth share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Magnoliophyta. (Flowering Plants)

Conservation Status

Arrowleaf elephant's ear

NE — Not Evaluated

coast amaranth

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Arrowleaf elephant's ear	coast amaranth
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Arrowleaf elephant's ear

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and mangrove forests and coastal wetlands spanning the Indomalayan and Neotropic realms.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (9 countries), Asia (4 countries), North America (9 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (7 countries), and South America (Colombia).

coast amaranth

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found in Japan.

Arrowleaf elephant's ear

The Arrowleaf elephant's ear, Xanthosoma sagittifolium, is a species. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and mangrove forests and coastal wetlands spanning the Indomalayan and Neotropic realms.

coast amaranth

Coast amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus) is an annual herb in the family Amaranthaceae, native to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the eastern United States, where it once grew on coastal foredunes, beach strand, and shell-hash substrates above the high tide line from New York south to South Carolina. It is a low-growing, fleshy plant with small, rounded leaves and inconspicuous green flowers typical of the genus. Coast amaranth is assessed as Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN, as it has not been reliably documented from wild populations since the mid-20th century; the last confirmed collections date to the 1960s. The species' decline and likely extinction resulted from intense human pressure on Atlantic coastal habitats through shoreline development, beach stabilisation, vehicular traffic on beaches, and increased storm frequency disrupting pioneer dune vegetation. It is federally listed as Threatened in the United States, though this listing predates confirmed extinction in the wild. A small number of ex-situ accessions may exist in botanical garden collections. Genetic material and seed banking efforts represent the only remaining conservation options for this critically reduced species.