Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex coulteri

Atriplex truncata

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

truncate saltbrush, wedge orach, wedge orache, wedgeleaf orache, wedgescale, wedgescale orache, wedgescale saltbush
Habit Herbs, perennial, sometimes flowering as an annual, spreading 0.7–10 dm, slightly woody at base. Herbs, typically erect.
Stems

frequently tinged with red, much branched, sparsely scurfy.

simple or more commonly branched throughout, mainly 2–8(–10) dm, branches mostly obtusely angled;

herbage scurfy, becoming glabrate.
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.

alternate or proximalmost opposite, short petiolate proximally, sessile and often cordate-clasping distally;

blade ovate to deltoid or oval, 4–30(–40) × 3–30 mm, base truncate or subhastate to rounded, margin entire or dentate, apex acute to obtuse.
Flowers

in axillary glomerules.
Staminate flowers

in glomerules in distal axils and short terminal spikes.

in glomerules mainly in distal axils;

sepals 3–5.
Pistillate flowers

in small axillary clusters.

Seeds

brown, 1.3–1.5 mm.

brown, 1–2 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 scarcely compressed, 2–3 mm and as wide, apex truncate to broadly rounded, with 3 (or more) teeth across summit, surfaces smooth (or rarely tuberculate).
2n

= 18.

Atriplex coulteri

Atriplex truncata
Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Somewhat alkaline or clay low places, valley grasslands, coastal sage scrub, coastal slopes Saline saltgrass-greasewood-rabbitbrush communities, and other pans or palustrine or lacustrine habitats
Elevation 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) 400-2700 m (1300-8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 363. FNA vol. 4, p. 354.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Arenariae Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Truncatae
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. 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. tularensis, A. watsonii, A. wolfii, A. wrightii
Synonyms Obione coulteri Obione truncata, A. subdecumbens, A. truncata var. stricta
Name authority (Moquin-Tandon) D. Dietrich: Syn. Pl. 5: 537. (1852) (Torrey ex S. Watson) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 398. (1873)
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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