Atriplex covillei
Atriplex prostrata
Coville's orach
fat-hen, hastate orache, hastate-leaf orache, spearscale orache, thin-leaf orache, thinleaf orach, triangle orache
terete, sparsely scurfy when young.
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.
opposite or subopposite at least proximally;
petiole (0–)1–3(–4) cm;
blade triangular-hastate, lobes spreading, 20–100 mm and almost as wide, base truncate or subcordate, margin entire, serrate, dentate, or irregularly toothed, apex acute to obtuse.
in spiciform naked spikes 2–9 cm, sometimes forming terminal panicles;
glomerules tight, contiguous or irregularly spaced.
in sessile glomerules in distal axils, often mixed with pistillate ones, staminate calyx deeply 5-cleft;
lobes obtuse, not appendaged.
with calyx of (1–)3(–5) hyaline sepals.
dark reddish brown, 1–1.5 mm.
dimorphic: brown, flattened, disc-shaped, 1–2.5 mm wide, or black, 1–1.5 mm wide;
radicle subbasal, obliquely antrorse to spreading.
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 green, becoming brown to black at maturity, triangular-hastate to triangular-ovate, veined or veins obscure, 3–5 mm, thin to thickened, spongy, base truncate to obtuse, margin united at base, lateral angles mostly entire, apex acute, faces smooth or with 2 tubercles.
= 18.
Atriplex covillei
Atriplex prostrata
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.)
Atriplex prostrata often grows with willow, tamarix, Scirpus (Schoenoplectus and Bulboschoenus segregates), Juncus, Distichlis, and Typha. Perhaps the phase along coastal eastern North America is indigenous, but this and the related Atriplex heterosperma evidently moved quickly from one palustrine habitat to another following subsequent introductions from the Old World. They were probably initially introduced as ballast waifs, and subsequently dispersed by waterfowl. The two species are now commonplace in lands within and adjacent to marshes in much of North America west of the initial sites of introduction.
The name for the species taken up here follows the nomenclatural interpretation of J. McNeill et al. (1983).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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