Atriplex coronata
Atriplex matamorensis
crownscale, wedgescale
matamoros saltbush
terete, slender, densely leafy, rather sparsely and closely scurfy.
alternate, subsessile or proximal short petiolate;
blade ascending, oblong, oblong-ovate, or lanceolate to elliptic, 5–40 × 2–10 mm, thin, base acute to obtuse, margin entire, apex acute to acuminate.
possibly Kranz type (difficult to determine), mostly opposite;
blade oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 2–5 mm, subequal to internodes, broadest at middle, apex acute, densely grayish scurfy.
of both sexes in small axillary glomerules, 5-merous.
solitary or in small, axillary glomerules in stout leafy spikes.
light brown to amber, 1–1.5 mm.
yellowish, 1 mm wide.
bracteoles almost sessile, broadly cuneate, 2–5 × (2–)2.5–5 mm, united to summit, truncate at summit, sides smooth or obscurely tuberculate.
bracteoles sessile, suborbiculate, strongly compressed, 2–3 mm and broad, united to beyond middle, dentate to near base, triangular teeth acute, terminal 1 longest, faces 3-veined, scurfy.
= 36.
Atriplex coronata
Atriplex matamorensis
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
Although placed within the Atriplex argentea species complex by P. C. Standley (1916), this taxon appears more nearly allied to A. cordulata, differing mainly in leaf shape, round-ovate or deltoid-ovate to elliptic or lanceolate (not ovate to cordate-ovate), and markedly tuberculate faces of the fruiting bracteoles.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The quelite cenizo is a very distinctive, small, bushy perennial with numerous, ascending branches and tiny leaves. It is here tentatively placed adjacent to the other dioecious, herbaceous perennial, Atriplex watsonii, from which it differs in many ways (compare descriptions). Possibly its near relatives are in adjacent Mexico, which is beyond the consideration of the present paper; certainly it is one of the most distinctive of the herbaceous taxa. According to H. M. Hall and F. E. Clements (1923), the relationships of this species lie with A. watsonii, but it is more closely similar to A. elegans in the strongly compressed, nearly orbicular, and evenly dentate bracteoles. However, both A. watsonii and A. matamorensis have opposite leaves and share the feature of the pericarp being dilated around the thickened stigma bases.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Stems ± erect; body of fruiting bracteoles ± semicircular in profile, compressed or ± spheric; tubercles dense; marginal teeth ± equal. | var. notatior |
1. Stems decumbent to ascending; body of fruiting bracteoles approaching circular or flabellate in profile, ± compressed; tubercles usually few; marginal teeth unequal | → 2 |
2. Fruiting bracteoles 2-4 mm; basal branches and leaves typically opposite. | var. vallicola |
2. Fruiting bracteoles (2-)4-5 mm; basal branches and leaves typically alternate | var. coronata |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
