Atriplex coronata |
Atriplex nummularia |
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crownscale, wedgescale |
bluegreen saltbush, old man saltbush |
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Habit | Herbs, erect or decumbent, 0.5–6 dm; branches terete, fructiferous almost to base, scurfy when young. | Shrubs, semidioecious, mainly (15–)20–30 dm, with striated twigs. | ||||||||
Leaves | 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. |
mostly alternate, short petiolate; blade broadly ovate, rhombic to suborbiculate, (15–)30–65 mm, about as wide, thick, base cuneate, margin sinuate-dentate, apex obtuse to rounded. |
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Flowers | of both sexes in small axillary glomerules, 5-merous. |
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Staminate flowers | crowded in glomerules on short or elongate, interrupted spikes in large paniculate clusters to 20 cm. |
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Pistillate flowers | in dense, compound panicles, or axillary, or along staminate panicle branches. |
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Seeds | light brown to amber, 1–1.5 mm. |
brown, 2 mm wide. |
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Fruiting | 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, reticulately veined, rhombic to orbiculate, 5–12(–15) × 5–11 mm, papery all over or thick and corky, margin subentire to coarsely few-toothed. |
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2n | = 36. |
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Atriplex coronata |
Atriplex nummularia |
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Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | |||||||||
Habitat | Sandy coastal bluffs, disturbed sites such as roadsides | |||||||||
Elevation | 0-2300 m (0-7500 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
CA
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AZ; CA; Mexico; Australia [Introduced in North America] |
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Discussion | 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.) |
Atriplex nummularia is a rather coarse, broad-leaved, vigorous shrub, which has spread from some early introduction from Australia, possibly for use in stabilizing land. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4. | FNA vol. 4, p. 343. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Pusillae | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Dialysex | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | A. elegans var. coronata, Obione coronata | A. johnstonii | ||||||||
Name authority | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 114. (1874) | Lindley: in T. L. Mitchell, J. Exped. Trop. Australia, 64. (1848) | ||||||||
Web links |