Burke: Atriplex obovata vs. Atriplex canescens

	Atriplex obovata	Atriplex canescens
		fourwing saltbush, hoary saltbush, shadscale, wingscale
Habit		Dioecious, rounded, freely branched shrub 4-20 dm. tall, the branches stout, terete, at first whitish-scurfy, the outer layer later peeling off.
Leaves		Leaves numerous, alternate, from elliptic to linear, sessile, 2-5 cm. long and 2-8 mm. wide, entire, grayish-scurfy.
Flowers		Staminate flowers tawny, glomerate in numerous spikes that form large, leafy panicles, the perianth cleft to the base into 5 scurfy segments; pistillate flowers few to many in open to congested, leafy to naked spikes and panicles; each flower subtended by 2 bracts, which are completely fused, enclosing the fruit, and enlarging to 5-15 mm.
Fruits		Utricle enclosed by the fused bracts, which have 4 wings lengthwise, the wings broader and longer than the body of the bract, sharply toothed and strongly net-veined.

	Atriplex obovata	Atriplex canescens
Flowering time		June-August
Habitat		Sand or gravel slopes and sagebrush flats, saline or not.
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to the Great Plains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin		Native
Conservation status		Review Group 1 in Washington (WANHP)
Sibling taxa	A. argentea, A. canescens, A. dioica, A. gardneri, A. gmelinii, A. heterosperma, A. hortensis, A. littoralis, A. longipes, A. oblongifolia, A. patula, A. prostrata, A. rosea, A. semibaccata, A. truncata	A. argentea, A. dioica, A. gardneri, A. gmelinii, A. heterosperma, A. hortensis, A. littoralis, A. longipes, A. oblongifolia, A. patula, A. prostrata, A. rosea, A. semibaccata, A. truncata
Subordinate taxa		A. canescens var. canescens
Web links	Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Atriplex obovata

Atriplex canescens

fourwing saltbush, hoary saltbush, shadscale, wingscale

Habit

Dioecious, rounded, freely branched shrub 4-20 dm. tall, the branches stout, terete, at first whitish-scurfy, the outer layer later peeling off.

Leaves

Leaves numerous, alternate, from elliptic to linear, sessile, 2-5 cm. long and 2-8 mm. wide, entire, grayish-scurfy.

Flowers

Staminate flowers tawny, glomerate in numerous spikes that form large, leafy panicles, the perianth cleft to the base into 5 scurfy segments; pistillate flowers few to many in open to congested, leafy to naked spikes and panicles; each flower subtended by 2 bracts, which are completely fused, enclosing the fruit, and enlarging to 5-15 mm.

Fruits

Utricle enclosed by the fused bracts, which have 4 wings lengthwise, the wings broader and longer than the body of the bract, sharply toothed and strongly net-veined.