Burke: Atriplex semibaccata vs. Atriplex dioica

	Atriplex semibaccata	Atriplex dioica
	Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush	thickleaf orache, saline saltbush
Habit	Monoecious, unarmed, perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, prostrate to decumbent, the stems 0.5-8 dm. tall and up to 15 dm. across the plant, white-scurfy when young.
Leaves	Leaves many, alternate, obovate to elliptic, 5-30 mm. long and 2-9 mm. wide, the base tapered, the margins entire to remotely dentate, the tip obtuse.
Flowers	Staminate flowers in small, terminal, leafy-bracteate clusters 1.5 mm. wide; pistillate flowers solitary or in few-flowered clusters in most leaf axils.
Fruits	Fruiting bracteoles fleshy and red at maturity, sessile, strongly veined.

	Atriplex semibaccata	Atriplex dioica
Flowering time	April-September	June-September
Habitat	Disturbed areas from dry to moist, tolerant of alkaline soils.	Salt marshes, sea beaches and headlands, also inland on disturbed or saline ground;
Distribution	Occasionally introduced in eastern and central WA; scattered localities primarily in southwestern US. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington, but particularly common along the inner and outer marine coast; Yukon Territory to California, east to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Australia	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
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. truncata	A. argentea, A. canescens, A. gardneri, A. gmelinii, A. heterosperma, A. hortensis, A. littoralis, A. longipes, A. oblongifolia, A. patula, A. prostrata, A. rosea, A. semibaccata, A. truncata
Web links	Local floras: CA, 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	Local floras: BC, 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 semibaccata

Atriplex dioica

Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush

thickleaf orache, saline saltbush

Habit

Monoecious, unarmed, perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, prostrate to decumbent, the stems 0.5-8 dm. tall and up to 15 dm. across the plant, white-scurfy when young.

Leaves

Leaves many, alternate, obovate to elliptic, 5-30 mm. long and 2-9 mm. wide, the base tapered, the margins entire to remotely dentate, the tip obtuse.

Flowers

Staminate flowers in small, terminal, leafy-bracteate clusters 1.5 mm. wide; pistillate flowers solitary or in few-flowered clusters in most leaf axils.

Fruits

Fruiting bracteoles fleshy and red at maturity, sessile, strongly veined.

Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex dioica

Flowering time

April-September

June-September

Habitat

Disturbed areas from dry to moist, tolerant of alkaline soils.

Salt marshes, sea beaches and headlands, also inland on disturbed or saline ground;

Distribution

Occasionally introduced in eastern and central WA; scattered localities primarily in southwestern US.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington, but particularly common along the inner and outer marine coast; Yukon Territory to California, east to the Atlantic Coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Introduced from Australia

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa