Amaranth
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Amaranth. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a common name for several old-fashioned garden favorites, including cockscomb, prince's feather, and love-lies-bleeding. The word is Greek, signifying everlasting or unfading. The color of the plumes is due to the scales that protect the apetalous, inconspicuous flowers. The scales retain their brilliant color in drying; hence the amaranth is an emblem of immortality. There are some five hundred species, including our coarse pigweed and several tumble weeds. In southern Europe, especially Portugal, the globe amaranth is used in place of holly and ivy for festal and church decorations. Immortal amaranth! a flower which once In paradise, fast by the tree of life Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life, And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream: With these that never fade the spirits elect Bind their resplendent locks.--Milton, Paradise Lost . 2026 Editor's Note: The article knows amaranth only as a garden flower, but it was a sacred grain of the Aztecs — so tied to their rituals that the Spanish tried to stamp it out. Rediscovered as a gluten-free, high-protein 'superfood,' it is now farmed again from Mexico to India. (Ed: BR 2026-06-04)
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)
A flower which is one of the symbols of immortality. It has been said by magicians that a crown made with this flower has supernatural properties, and will bring fame and favour to those who wear it.