Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex coulteri

Atriplex matamorensis

Coulter's orach, Coulter's orache, Coulter's saltbush

matamoros saltbush
Habit Herbs, perennial, sometimes flowering as an annual, spreading 0.7–10 dm, slightly woody at base. Herbs, dioecious, from woody taproot, erect or ascending, branching at base, sparsely branched distally or simple, 1–4 dm, woody at base somewhat scurfy.
Stems

frequently tinged with red, much branched, sparsely scurfy.

terete, slender, densely leafy, rather sparsely and closely scurfy.
Leaves

many, sessile or short petiolate;

blade obovate, oblong, oblanceolate, or elliptic, (5–)7–20 × 1–3(–5) mm, base cuneate, margin entire, apex acute.

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.
Staminate flowers

in glomerules in distal axils and short terminal spikes.

Pistillate flowers

in small axillary clusters.

solitary or in small, axillary glomerules in stout leafy spikes.
Seeds

brown, 1.3–1.5 mm.

yellowish, 1 mm wide.
Fruiting

bracteoles sessile or subsessile, broadly obovate, 2–3 mm and as broad or about as broad, united 1/2 of length, margin free, deeply and sharply dentate, narrowed at summit, faces smooth or sometimes 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.

Atriplex coulteri

Atriplex matamorensis
Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering summer and fall.
Habitat Somewhat alkaline or clay low places, valley grasslands, coastal sage scrub, coastal slopes Saline soils, coastal areas, often along roadsides, other disturbed areas
Elevation 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) 0-50 m (0-200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; Mexico
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Atriplex coulteri is closely allied to the geographically disjunct A. fruticulosa, from which it is said to differ in the compressed, small (2.5–3 mm) versus thickened and larger (3–5 mm) bracts. Specimens of A. fruticulosa, including the type, examined by me have bracteoles compressed-thickened, but hardly “globoid” as stated in the key to the species by H. M. Hall and F. E. Clements (1923). Additional specimens borrowed from California might clarify the situation; otherwise the two species are sufficiently close as to be treated as a single entity.

(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.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 363. FNA vol. 4, p. 367.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Arenariae Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Californicae
Sibling taxa
A. acanthocarpa, A. amnicola, A. argentea, A. californica, A. canescens, A. confertifolia, A. cordulata, A. coronata, A. corrugata, 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. 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
Synonyms Obione coulteri
Name authority (Moquin-Tandon) D. Dietrich: Syn. Pl. 5: 537. (1852) A. Nelson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 118. 1874, not Villars (1779)
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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