Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex coulteri

Atriplex phyllostegia

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

leafcover saltweed, Truckee orach
Habit Herbs, perennial, sometimes flowering as an annual, spreading 0.7–10 dm, slightly woody at base. Herbs monoecious (or entirely pistillate), erect, much-branched, rounded, bushy, 0.5–6 dm.
Stems

frequently tinged with red, much branched, sparsely scurfy.

mostly ascending, terete.
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.

petiole 0.3–2 cm;

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

in glomerules in distal axils and short terminal spikes.

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

in small axillary clusters.

in axillary clusters.
Seeds

brown, 1.3–1.5 mm.

brown, 1.2 mm.
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 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.

Atriplex coulteri

Atriplex phyllostegia
Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering Apr–Aug.
Habitat Somewhat alkaline or clay low places, valley grasslands, coastal sage scrub, coastal slopes Valley bottoms, silty or clay, less commonly, sandy alluvium with greasewood
Elevation 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) 1200-1500 m (3900-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NV
[WildflowerSearch 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.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 363. FNA vol. 4, p. 368.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Arenariae Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Phyllostegiae
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. 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
Synonyms Obione coulteri Obione phyllostegia, A. draconis, A. phyllostegia var. draconis
Name authority (Moquin-Tandon) D. Dietrich: Syn. Pl. 5: 537. (1852) (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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