Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex confertifolia

Atriplex truncata

shadscale, shadscale saltbush, sheepfat, spiny saltbush

truncate saltbrush, wedge orach, wedge orache, wedgeleaf orache, wedgescale, wedgescale orache, wedgescale saltbush
Habit Shrubs, dioecious, 3–8 dm, spinescent. Herbs, typically erect.
Stems

simple or more commonly branched throughout, mainly 2–8(–10) dm, branches mostly obtusely angled;

herbage scurfy, becoming glabrate.
Leaves

persistent, alternate;

petiole 1–4 mm;

blade orbiculate to ovate, elliptic, or oval, 9–25(–45) × 4–20(–25) mm, margin entire, apex obtuse.

alternate or proximalmost opposite, short petiolate proximally, sessile and often cordate-clasping distally;

blade ovate to deltoid or oval, 4–30(–40) × 3–30 mm, base truncate or subhastate to rounded, margin entire or dentate, apex acute to obtuse.
Flowers

in axillary glomerules.
Staminate flowers

yellow, in clusters 2–4 mm wide or in spikes to 1 cm, axillary, in foliose-bracteate, divaricately branched panicles 3–15 cm.

in glomerules mainly in distal axils;

sepals 3–5.
Pistillate flowers

in similar paniculate inflorescences.

Seeds

1.5–2 mm wide.

brown, 1–2 mm wide.
Fruiting

bracteoles sessile or subsessile, suborbiculate to rhombic or elliptic, 4–12 mm and wide, body indurate, terminal teeth distinct, foliaceous, shorter than bracteoles, entire or toothed below, terminal teeth spreading at maturity, faces smooth, lacking appendages.

bracteoles scarcely compressed, 2–3 mm and as wide, apex truncate to broadly rounded, with 3 (or more) teeth across summit, surfaces smooth (or rarely tuberculate).
2n

= 18, 36, 54+.

= 18.

Atriplex confertifolia

Atriplex truncata
Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Gravelly to fine-textured soils in greasewood, mat-atriplex, other salt desert shrub, sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, and ponderosa pine communities Saline saltgrass-greasewood-rabbitbrush communities, and other pans or palustrine or lacustrine habitats
Elevation 600-2200 m (2000-7200 ft) 400-2700 m (1300-8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NM; NV; OR; TX; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Shadscale forms hybrids with Atriplex canescens, A. garrettii, A. corrugata, and A. gardneri varieties. It is, however, closely allied to A. parryi and A. spinifera. The plants are widely dispersed, typically on saline substrates but less commonly on essentially non-saline ones, through large areas of the western United States and adjacent Canada and Mexico, on both raw and exposed geological strata and on alluvium.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4. FNA vol. 4, p. 354.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Truncatae
Sibling taxa
A. acanthocarpa, A. amnicola, A. argentea, A. californica, A. canescens, A. cordulata, A. coronata, A. corrugata, A. coulteri, A. covillei, A. dioica, A. elegans, A. fruticulosa, A. gardneri, A. garrettii, A. glabriuscula, A. gmelinii, A. graciliflora, A. heterosperma, A. holocarpa, A. hortensis, A. hymenelytra, A. joaquiniana, A. klebergorum, A. laciniata, A. lentiformis, A. leucophylla, A. lindleyi, A. linearis, A. littoralis, A. matamorensis, A. mucronata, A. nudicaulis, A. nummularia, A. oblongifolia, A. obovata, A. pacifica, A. parishii, A. parryi, A. patula, A. pentandra, A. phyllostegia, A. pleiantha, A. polycarpa, A. powellii, A. prostrata, A. pusilla, A. rosea, A. saccaria, A. semibaccata, A. serenana, A. spinifera, A. suberecta, A. suckleyi, A. tatarica, A. torreyi, A. truncata, A. tularensis, A. watsonii, A. wolfii, A. wrightii
A. acanthocarpa, A. amnicola, A. argentea, A. californica, A. canescens, A. confertifolia, A. cordulata, A. coronata, A. corrugata, A. coulteri, A. covillei, A. dioica, A. elegans, A. fruticulosa, A. gardneri, A. garrettii, A. glabriuscula, A. gmelinii, A. graciliflora, A. heterosperma, A. holocarpa, A. hortensis, A. hymenelytra, A. joaquiniana, A. klebergorum, A. laciniata, A. lentiformis, A. leucophylla, A. lindleyi, A. linearis, A. littoralis, A. matamorensis, A. mucronata, A. nudicaulis, A. nummularia, A. oblongifolia, A. obovata, A. pacifica, A. parishii, A. parryi, A. patula, A. pentandra, A. phyllostegia, A. pleiantha, A. polycarpa, A. powellii, A. prostrata, A. pusilla, A. rosea, A. saccaria, A. semibaccata, A. serenana, A. spinifera, A. suberecta, A. suckleyi, A. tatarica, A. torreyi, A. tularensis, A. watsonii, A. wolfii, A. wrightii
Synonyms Obione confertifolia, A. collina, A. subconferta, Obione rigida Obione truncata, A. subdecumbens, A. truncata var. stricta
Name authority (Torrey & Frémont) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 119. (1874) (Torrey ex S. Watson) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 398. (1873)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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