Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex coronata

Atriplex polycarpa

crownscale, wedgescale

allscale, allscale saltbush, cattle saltbush, cattle-spinach, desert saltbush
Habit Herbs, erect or decumbent, 0.5–6 dm; branches terete, fructiferous almost to base, scurfy when young. Shrubs, dioecious or sub-monoecious, mainly 10–20 dm.
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.

tardily deciduous, alternate, sessile or nearly so;

blade spatulate to obovate or oblong, 3–15(–2.) × 2–4 mm, margin entire, apex typically acute.
Flowers

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

Staminate flowers

appearing silvery, in clusters 1.5–3 mm wide, borne in paniculate, naked spikes 5–25 cm;

anthers yellow.
Pistillate flowers

with fruiting bracteoles sessile, cuneate-orbicular to semicircular, 1.5–2.5 × 2–3 mm, united to near middle, margin deeply laciniate-dentate, tuberculate or sometimes smooth dorsally.
Seeds

light brown to amber, 1–1.5 mm.

pale brown, 1–1.5 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.

2n

= 36.

= 18, 36.

Atriplex coronata

Atriplex polycarpa
Phenology Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Warm desert shrub communities (creosote bush, ambrosia, shadscale, mesquite, saltgrass, etc.), mainly in fine-textured saline substrates
Elevation 60-1500 m (200-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; n Mexico (Baja California to Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county 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.)

Atriplex polycarpa consists of two or more chromosomal races based on different polyploid levels. The races form hybrids with Atriplex canescens in south California, resulting in partially stabilized entities known as varieties laciniata and macilenta. The plants evidently form hybrids with A. lentiformis.

(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. 376.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Pusillae Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton
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. phyllostegia, A. pleiantha, 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 polycarpa, A. curvidensB
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 114. (1874) (Torrey) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 117. (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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