Atriplex argentea
Atriplex argentea var. hillmanii
maidenhair spleenwort, silver orach, silver orache, silver saltbush, silverscale, silverscale orache, silverscale saltbush, silvery orache
Hillman's orach, Hillman's silverscale
spreading or ascending, densely branched, forming low broad clumps, 1.5–3(–4.5) dm.
often opposite proximally, petiolate or distal bracteate ones subsessile, blade lance-ovate, lanceolate, deltoid, or cordate, 5–75 × 4–50(–75) mm, base subhastate or obtuse to acute, margin entire or essentially so, sometimes closely repand-dentate, apex obtuse to acute or rounded, scurfy (glabrous).
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.
in axillary glomerules and terminal, interrupted spikes.
borne in distal axils, or in short dense spikes or panicles, or intermixed with pistillate, with 4–5-parted calyx.
brown, 1.5–2 mm wide;
radicle superior or lateral.
bracteoles sessile, subsessile, or stipitate (stipe 0.5–5 mm), cuneate-orbicular, (2.5–)4–11.2 × 2–8.8(–14) mm, margin foliaceous below apex, subentire or dentate to laciniate, face smooth, tuberculate, or crested, processes sometimes again toothed, teeth then aligned with axis of process.
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.
= 18, 36, 54.
Atriplex argentea
Atriplex argentea var. hillmanii
Varieties 5 (5 in the flora).
Herbarium materials have tended to represent a catchall for annual specimens not readily assignable to other taxa. Indeed, the distinguishing features of the Atriplex argentea complex are shared singly and often in combination with other taxa. Only by use of combinations of features can this taxon be defined. Those features, with much variation, center around the broad, typically ovate to deltoid leaf blades (often definitely 3-veined) and more-or-less compressed, sessile to subsessile (or short stipitate), fruiting bracteoles on which the marginal processes, or teeth, are mainly aligned with the plane compression, and with the faces quite smooth to variously appendaged. Still some specimens are apparently intermediate with other species, especially with the closely allied A. saccaria, with which it is at least partially sympatric.
(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.)
1. Plants low, rounded, mainly 1-3(-4.5) dm; fruiting bracteoles sessile or rarely some short stipitate, the appendages mainly acuminate or acute-attenuate; Nevada and adjacent se California, se Oregon | → 2 |
1. Plants rather strict and often taller, mainly 2-4(-5) dm; fruiting bracteoles, at least some, short stipitate; appendages acute to less commonly acuminate to attenuate; other distribution | → 3 |
2. Leaf blades typically, but not always, constricted to the petiole; herbage merely scurfy, or with elongate trichomes mainly on the fruiting bracteoles; Nevada (except the southern part), and adjacent se California and se Oregon | var. hillmanii |
2. Leaf blades typically, if not always, cuneate to a winged petiole or merely sessile base; herbage copiously covered with elongate trichomes throughout, or mostly on the stems and fruiting bracteoles; Nye County, Nevada and adjacent Inyo County, California | var. longitrichoma |
3. Leaf blades elliptic to oval, attenuate to a cuneate base; sw Colorado, se Utah, and nw New Mexico | var. rydbergii |
3. Leaf blades triangular-ovate to oval, base broadly obtuse to acute or less commonly cuneate; various or other distribution | → 4 |
4. Distal leaves short petiolate; proximalmost leaves alternate; plants mostly less than 4 dm; British Columbia to Manitoba, s through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Idaho, Utah, e Nevada, Colorado, w Kansas, ne Arizona, nw New Mexico | var. argentea |
4. Distal leaves sessile; proximalmost leaves opposite; plants mostly over 4 dm; California, s Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, w Oklahoma, w and n Texas | var. mohavensis |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
KS Wildflowers, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
