Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex coronata

Atriplex powellii

crownscale, wedgescale

Powell's orach, Powell's orache, Powell's saltbush, Powell's saltweed
Habit Herbs, erect or decumbent, 0.5–6 dm; branches terete, fructiferous almost to base, scurfy when young. Herbs, dioecious or sometimes sparingly monoecious.
Stems

slender to stout, mainly 1–5(–7) dm, branching almost throughout;

herbage pubescent with scurfy and arachnoid hairs.
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.

alternate, proximalmost on petioles (3–)5–30 mm, becoming subsessile or short petiolate distally;

blade 3-veined, ovate to rhombic or orbiculate to elliptic, 0.4–5 × 0.2–3 cm, base rounded to cuneate, margin entire, apex acute to obtuse.
Flowers

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

Staminate flowers

with calyx 4–5-lobed.
Seeds

light brown to amber, 1–1.5 mm.

greenish, yellowish, or brown, 0.9–2 mm;

radicle superior.
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, ovate to oblong or broadly cuneate or pan-duriform, 1.5–5.5 × 1.5–5 mm, thick, united to apex, apex truncate to cuspidate or tridentate, surfaces with thickened processes or rarely smooth.
2n

= 36.

= 18.

Atriplex coronata

Atriplex powellii
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NE; NM; OR; SD; UT; WY; AB; SK
[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.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(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
1. Leaves mostly conspicuously 3-veined, proximalmost with petioles 0.5-2.5(-3.5) cm, distalmost bracteate leaves typically short petiolate; fruiting bracteoles easily discerned at bract bases; plants mostly dioecious; from Alberta and Saskatchewan s to Utah and New Mexico
var. powellii
1. Leaves inconspicuously, if at all, 3-veined, proximalmost with petioles 0.5-1.5(-2) cm, distalmost bracteate leaves typically sessile; fruiting bracteoles apparent only by removing the subtending bract; plants evidently monoecious; local distribution in se Utah.
var. minuticarpa
Source FNA vol. 4. FNA vol. 4, p. 352.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Pusillae Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Argenteae
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. polycarpa, 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
A. powellii var. minuticarpa, A. powellii var. powellii
Synonyms A. elegans var. coronata, Obione coronata Obione powellii
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 114. (1874) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 114. (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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