Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex covillei

Atriplex klebergorum

Coville's orach

Kleberg orach, Kleberg's saltbush
Habit Herbs, spreading, 1–4(–5) dm and as broad. Herbs, with ligneous vertical taproot 5–9 mm thick; bark pale.
Stems

terete, sparsely scurfy when young.

erect, diffuse;

branches alternate, numerous, horizontal or distally ascending, terete, 1.5–4 dm, densely white farinose when young, glabrate in age;

bark becoming pale brownish white and flaky;

internodes mostly shorter than 1(–2.4) cm.
Leaves

petiole to 1/2 as long as blade (becoming subsessile distally);

blade green or finally stramineous, (10–)20–50 × 6–30 mm, firm, base abruptly acute to narrowly cuneate, apex acute to attenuate, sparsely scurfy.

alternate, proximalmost subopposite, sessile;

blade ovate-deltoid, 0.5–1.5(–2.5) × 5–12(–15) mm, rather firm and flat, base rounded, truncate, or slightly clasping, margin entire or toothed, apex acute, very densely canescent-farinose with a greenish yellow tinge.
Flowers

sessile, axillary, inconspicuous, mostly in leafy lateral branches with extremely short internodes, arising toward tips of secondary branches.
Staminate flowers

in sessile glomerules in distal axils, often mixed with pistillate ones, staminate calyx deeply 5-cleft;

lobes obtuse, not appendaged.

in most distal axils, 2 mm wide;

sepals 3–5, mostly hyaline, curved elliptic, 1.5–1.7 mm, mucronulate, farinose dorsally.
Pistillate flowers

with calyx of (1–)3(–5) hyaline sepals.

densely farinose;

bracteoles adnate to ovary.
Seeds

dark reddish brown, 1–1.5 mm.

dark reddish brown, round-lenticular, 1.5 mm wide, shining;

radicle superior.
Fruiting

bracteoles sessile or stipitate, 6–12 × 4–7 mm, margin mostly 3-lobed, with elongate terminal lobe triangular to lanceolate, 2 short rounded lobes at base or sides merely rounded at base, united to beyond middle.

bracteoles variably and irregularly 3–7-cleft, ovate-orbicular, 3.1–4.7 × (3.2–)4–7 mm, typically somewhat constricted below middle, with terminal lobes (1–)1.5–2.8 mm, densely scurfy, faces doubly cristate or smooth.

Atriplex covillei

Atriplex klebergorum
Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering summer.
Habitat Mixed saltbush-greasewood, rabbitbrush, warm desert shrub, and salt grass communities in saline substrates In silty or clay loam soils
Elevation 800-1700 m (2600-5600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
from FNA
TX; of conservation concern; near sea level
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Endolepis covillei was treated within the synonymy of Atriplex phyllostegia (Torrey) S. Watson by H. M. Hall and F. E. Clements (1923).

H. C. Stutz et al. (1993) placed Atriplex covillei within Endolepis, based in large part on the presence of a perianth subtending the pistil within the fruiting bracteoles and on the lack of Kranz anatomy in the leaves. The pattern of venation is, nevertheless, very similar to that in species with Kranz anatomy. The presence of perianth scales in the pistillate flowers of A. covillei has been regarded as evidence of relationship with A. suckleyi. Despite placement of these taxa within Endolepis by Stutz et al. Atriplex covillei is possibly more closely allied to the morphologically similar and partially sympatric A. phyllostegia than it is to strongly dissimilar and the distantly disjunct A. suckleyi. Stutz and his associates placed great emphasis on the presence of reduced perianth segments subtending the pistil within the fruiting bracteoles of A. covillei. Calyces per se, otherwise known only in A. suckleyi and A. pleiantha, probably have arisen independently. Their presence does not necessarily indicate a close relationship. Stutz et al. pointed to other differences aside from the calyx of the pistillate flowers, and it is apparent that the two entities can stand as distinct species. To segregate A. covillei within a separate genus and to ally it with a species to which its relationships are obscure at best, stretches logic beyond reason.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Of conservation concern.

The species was noted by its author as apparently belonging in sect. Argenteae Standley; I concur with that alignment. The overall shape of the bracteoles with a subterminal constriction is reminiscent of those of Atriplex powellii, but the bracteole shape is otherwise distinctive, and the long marginal teeth and occasional elongate cristate processes on the faces are unmatched elsewhere in the Argenteae.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4. FNA vol. 4, p. 353.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Covilleiae 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. coronata, A. corrugata, A. coulteri, 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. 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
Synonyms Endolepis covillei
Name authority (Standley) J. F. Macbride: Contr. Gray Herb. 53: 11. (1918) M. C. Johnston: SouthW. Naturalist 6: 49. (1961)
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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