Atriplex argentea var. mohavensis
Atriplex argentea var. hillmanii
Mohave orach
Hillman's orach, Hillman's silverscale
erect or decumbent, much branched, 3–12(–20) dm, forming clumps 3–10(–30) dm broad;
branches obtusely to sharply angled, finely scurfy, white scurfy to glabrate.
spreading or ascending, densely branched, forming low broad clumps, 1.5–3(–4.5) dm.
petiole 2–21 mm on proximal leaves, distal ones sessile;
blade 3-veined at base, ovate to lance-ovate, or deltoid-ovate, (10–)25–75 mm and often as broad, margin irregularly dentate or entire.
blade ovate-oval, triangular, or oval to broadly oblong or rhombic-orbicular, 8–30 mm, base acute to subtruncate, margin entire or less commonly irregularly dentate, grayish scurfy.
of sexes intermixed in glomerules or staminate ones in distinct glomerules.
5-merous.
in axillary fascicles.
bracteoles sessile to subsessile, orbicular or cuneate-orbicular, mostly 3-veined, (3–)4–7 × 2–4 mm, united to middle, margin sharply dentate, faces with a few irregular, green projections or crests, or unappendaged.
bracteoles sessile or rarely some short stipitate (stipe to 2 mm), ovate to obovate, suborbicular, or cuneate in profile, compressed or thickened, 3.5–6.2 × 3.7–7.2 mm, margin deeply and acutely dentate, faces naked or covered with numerous short to elongate, flattened appendages.
= 18, 36, 54.
Atriplex argentea var. mohavensis
Atriplex argentea var. hillmanii
Atriplex argentea var. mohavensis is a tall, bushy plant with tumbleweed proportions. Its morphologic differences, slight though they may be, are geographically based.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Atriplex argentea var. hillmanii often occurs with Sarcobatus, Atriplex spp., Halogeton, Salsola, and Chrysothamnus. The features used to distinguish this taxon from var. argentea center on the mostly sessile fruiting bracteoles, which typically bear acute-attenuate or acuminate processes, and on the tendency of the plants to grow in depressed low clumps mainly less than 3 dm tall. These features are not always consistent, and neither are they consistently associated. Some plants bear occasional short stipitate fruiting bracteoles, and in some the appendages are merely acute. Examples of much taller plants are also known. Despite the lack of totally consistent characteristics, the entity has a geographic basis, with western Nevada at its approximate center and minor extensions into adjacent southeastern California and southeastern Oregon.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
