中文摘要：

＂苋＂是现代中国人习见的野菜种类。目前对＂苋＂已经开展了大量的研究工作,这些工作包括宏观与微观,涵盖了＂苋＂类植物的种质资源、种子特性、植株的生理学特性、光合特性以及医药功能和药理的研究等。但是,从植物分类学的角度来说,对＂苋＂这一名称所代表的原植物却知之甚少。笔者通过对历史典籍中与＂苋＂有关资料的整理与分析,用比较形态学的方法,对与＂苋＂这一名称有关的植物开展分类学的研究工作,厘定原植物的科学名称。研究发现,历史典籍中记载的与＂苋＂有关的植物名称有17个,在对这些名称所代表类群的形态学特征对比后发现,这些名称可以归并入3个科中,分别是苋科、马齿苋科和大戟科。被放置在苋科的植物包括苋属的白苋与红苋、牛膝属植物和青葙属的鸡冠花;马齿苋科的植物为马齿苋属的马齿苋;大戟科的植物为铁苋菜属。研究表明,早在汉代时期,中国先民已经认识到了＂苋＂类植物的食用功能;中国人明确地将马齿苋确定为单独类群的时间,比欧洲早800年。

英文摘要：

Amaranth is a usual potherb nowadays. A lot of research work has been conducted on it, whichcovers macro and micro field, including the genetic resource, seed characteristics, physiologic characteristics,photosynthetic characteristics, medical value and pharmacological features. However, the knowledge on theoriginal plants of the name of‘amaranth＇is still lacking from the perspective of plant taxonomy. Data on‘amaranth＇were collected from history books and analyzed, the method of comparative morphology wasadopted, and the scientific names were given based on the study. The research showed that there were 17 names associated with ‘amaranth＇. Comparative study classified the names into three families：Amaranthaceae, Portulacaceae, and Euphorbiaceae. Plants in the Amaranthaceae included the Amaranthus albus L. and Amaranthus tricolor L., Achyranthes L. and Celosia cristata L.. The plant in the Portulacaceae was Portulaca oleracea L., and the plant in the Euphorbiaceae was Acalypha L. The research showed that it was inthe Han Dynasty that the edible function of‘amaranth＇plant had been discovered, and the time when Portulaca oleracea L. was put as an individual group clearly by Chinese was 800 years earlier than that by theEuropean.