Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex coronata

Atriplex phyllostegia

crownscale, wedgescale

leafcover saltweed, Truckee orach
Habit Herbs, erect or decumbent, 0.5–6 dm; branches terete, fructiferous almost to base, scurfy when young. Herbs monoecious (or entirely pistillate), erect, much-branched, rounded, bushy, 0.5–6 dm.
Stems

mostly ascending, terete.
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.

petiole 0.3–2 cm;

blade 10–50 × 5–25 mm, base varying from shortly hastate to truncate or cuneate.
Flowers

of both sexes in small axillary glomerules, 5-merous.

Staminate flowers

in small to moderate, axillary glomerules near ends of branches, or in bracteate terminal spikes.
Pistillate flowers

in axillary clusters.
Seeds

light brown to amber, 1–1.5 mm.

brown, 1.2 mm.
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 lanceolate or oblong, 5–14(–20) mm, sharply lobed to tuberculate at base, also often sharply cristate below usually attenuate apical lobe;

tips widely recurved-spreading.
2n

= 36.

Atriplex coronata

Atriplex phyllostegia
Phenology Flowering Apr–Aug.
Habitat Valley bottoms, silty or clay, less commonly, sandy alluvium with greasewood
Elevation 1200-1500 m (3900-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
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.)
Key
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
Source FNA vol. 4. FNA vol. 4, p. 368.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Pusillae Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Phyllostegiae
Sibling taxa
A. acanthocarpa, A. amnicola, A. argentea, A. californica, A. canescens, A. confertifolia, A. cordulata, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
A. coronata var. coronata, A. coronata var. notatior, A. coronata var. vallicola
Synonyms A. elegans var. coronata, Obione coronata Obione phyllostegia, A. draconis, A. phyllostegia var. draconis
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 114. (1874) (Torrey ex S. Watson) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 108. (1874)
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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