Atriplex covillei
Atriplex rosea
Coville's orach
red orach, red orache, redscale, tumbling orach, tumbling orache, tumbling saltweed
terete, sparsely scurfy when young.
simple or more commonly divaricately branching throughout, branches terete;
herbage whitish scurfy to glabrate.
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, short petiolate, blade prominently 3-veined, ovate to lanceolate, mainly 12–80 × 6–50 mm, margin irregularly sinuate-dentate and often subhastately lobed or rarely some entire, apex acute to obtuse.
in axillary glomerules or interrupted terminal spikes.
in sessile glomerules in distal axils, often mixed with pistillate ones, staminate calyx deeply 5-cleft;
lobes obtuse, not appendaged.
with 4 or 5 sepals.
with calyx of (1–)3(–5) hyaline sepals.
in axillary glomerules of 5–10.
dark reddish brown, 1–1.5 mm.
dimorphic: brown, 2–2.5 mm wide, or black, 1–2 mm wide;
radicle inferior.
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 prominently 3–5-veined, sessile or short stipitate, (3–)4–6(–10) mm and as wide, sometimes subhastately lobed at base, conspicuously dentate, sharply tuberculate to almost smooth on faces.
= 18.
Atriplex covillei
Atriplex rosea
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.)
At least some early collections were from ballast dumps at harbors on both coasts. It seems probable that the plants were quickly spread inland from initial centers of introduction by birds and more recently along railroads.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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