Atriplex gardneri |
Atriplex oblongifolia |
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Gardner's orache, Gardner's sagebrush, Gardner's saltbrush, Gardner's saltbush, Nuttall's saltbush |
oblong-leaf orach, oblong-leaf orache |
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Habit | Shrubs or subshrubs, dioecious or monoecious, 1–10 dm, unarmed. | Herbs, erect, branching from base, mostly 6–12 dm. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | prostrate to ascending, or less commonly erect. |
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Leaves | ± persistent, alternate or opposite to subopposite (especially proximally), sessile to petiolate; blade linear to oblanceolate, obovate, spatulate, or orbiculate, 5–55 × 2–25 mm, base cuneate, margin entire (rarely dentate), apex retuse to obtuse or rounded. |
alternate above; petiole 0.5–3 cm; blade green on both sides or distal leaves whitish abaxially, triangular to lance-triangular, (20–)30–85 × 6–90 mm, base hastate or sub-cuneate, margin subentire, entire, or irregularly dentate, farinaceous at first, later glabrous. |
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Flowers | in terminal or axillary ± paniculate inflorescences 6–25+ cm. |
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Staminate flowers | yellow or brown, in numerous clusters 2–4 mm wide, in spikes or panicles 2–30 cm. |
with 5 sepals. |
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Pistillate flowers | in spikes or panicles to 30 cm. |
dimorphic, all bracteolate and lacking sepals. |
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Seeds | tan or brown, 1.5–2.5 mm wide. |
vertical; of large bracteoles yellowish brown, 2–3 mm wide, flat, dull; of small bracteoles black, 1.5 mm wide or less, shiny; radicle of brown seeds subbasal to median and antrorse. |
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Fruiting | bracteoles 2–9 × 2–9 mm, bearing tubercles or wings or tubercles aligned in 4 rows or rarely smooth, apex toothed and usually with 2 or more lateral teeth. |
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Bracteoles | loosely spaced, of 2 sizes; large fruiting bracteoles oval to ovate, 5–6 × 5 mm, with faces lacking appendages, small ones similar in shape, 2 mm and wide. |
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2n | = 36. |
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Atriplex gardneri |
Atriplex oblongifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Ruderal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 400-1000 m (1300-3300 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; MB; SK; Mexico
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SD; AB; BC; ON; Europe [Introduced in North America] |
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Discussion | Varieties 7 (7 in the flora). This is a widely distributed complex of intergrading genotypes of great phenotypic plasticity. The members occur commonly in fine-textured saline substrates in much of the western Great Plains and in the Intermountain Region. Diploids, triploids, tetraploids, and hexaploids (and higher polyploids, all multiples of the base number 9) are known within the complex, and hybrids are known not only between the constituents but with the other woody species which they contact, i.e., Atriplex canescens, A. confertifolia, and A. corrugata. Indeed, a case can be made for treating both A. gardneri and A. canescens within an expanded A. canescens. They are regarded here as forming two intergrading complexes, with some of the constituent varieties placed equally well within either of the species aggregations. The treatment essentially follows the alignment of taxa suggested by C. A. Hanson (1962), with the exception that they are reduced to varietal status and var. bonnevillensis and var. aptera are placed within the A. gardneri phase and not with A. canescens. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
I. J. Bassett et al. (1983) indicated that Atriplex oblongifolia formed abundant, very fertile hybrids with A. patula in the Botanic Garden at Manchester University. This is a weedy species with facies similar to both A. dioica and A. glabriuscula var. acadiensis. The proximal branches at least are opposite, similar to phases of the nearly allied A. patula, however. It is likewise an introduced ruderal weed of roadsides and other waste places. Its spread in North America awaits documentation. The thin, entire fruiting bracts without appendages are pointed to as diagnostic of this entity from other similar species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4. | FNA vol. 4, p. 333. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Teutliopsis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Obione gardneri, A. nuttallii subsp. gardneri, A. nuttallii var. gardneri | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | (Moquin-Tandon) D. Dietrich: Syn. Pl. 5: 537. (1852) | Waldstein & Kitaibel: Descr. Icon. Pl. Hung. 3: 278, plate 211. (1812) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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