Atriplex glabriuscula |
Atriplex rosea |
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bract orache, glabrous orach, scotland orache |
red orach, red orache, redscale, tumbling orach, tumbling orache, tumbling saltweed |
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Habit | Herbs, monoecious, prostrate or sprawling, or sometimes erect, branched, (1–)2–10 dm; branches opposite or subopposite. | Herbs, erect, coarse, 1–10(–20) dm. | ||||||||
Stems | green and striped, often blue-green when fresh, weakly ridged, sparsely scurfy to glabrous. |
simple or more commonly divaricately branching throughout, branches terete; herbage whitish scurfy to glabrate. |
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Leaves | petiole 0.2–2.5(–3.5) cm; blade all entire or some or all triangular or lance-hastate with lobes spreading to antrorse, 5–100 × 3–80 mm, base abruptly to narrowly cuneate, entire or irregularly toothed. |
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. |
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Flowers | in loose glomerules, arranged in foliose, interrupted spikes or axillary, terminating stems and branches. |
in axillary glomerules or interrupted terminal spikes. |
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Staminate flowers | with 4 or 5 sepals. |
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Pistillate flowers | in axillary glomerules of 5–10. |
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Seeds | dimorphic: brown, 2.5–4 mm wide (often the only ones present), or black, (1.2–)1.5–2.9(–3) mm wide; radicle median, ± antrorse, of brown seed basal and spreading. |
dimorphic: brown, 2–2.5 mm wide, or black, 1–2 mm wide; radicle inferior. |
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Bracteoles | green, becoming black or reddish to yellow brown, sessile or some short stipitate, venation obscure, ovate-triangular to rhombic-triangular, 5–13 mm, margin united almost to middle, with few irregular teeth or entire, apex abruptly acuminate, faces irregularly muricate, tuberculate, or smooth, inflated, spongy inner layer strongly developed at bracteole base. |
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Fruiting | 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. |
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2n | = 18, 36. |
= 18. |
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Atriplex glabriuscula |
Atriplex rosea |
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Phenology | Flowering mid summer–fall. | |||||||||
Habitat | Disturbed sites, often in riparian habitats or in barnyards or on animal bed grounds, along roadsides and irrigation canals, with juniper, sagebrush, rabbitbrush, pinyon-juniper, Salsola, Chrysothamnus, Atriplex spp., and other weedy species | |||||||||
Elevation | 0-2600 m (0-8500 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
CT; MA; ME; NH; PA; AB; MB; NB; NS; PE; QC; Europe
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AZ; CA; CO; FL; ID; MA; MI; MO; MT; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; UT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; NS; ON; SK; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). Members of the Atriplex glabriuscula complex occupy saline or brackish marshes and saline coastal strands mainly in the eastern maritime provinces of Canada, with extensions in similar habitats into the northeastern United States. They are seldom, if ever, ruderal weeds and appear to be indigenous or perhaps early introduced in some part from similar European habitats. The constituent taxa have been regarded at specific level (P. M. Taschereau 1972; I. J. Bassett et al. 1983). They are, however, alike in all major morphologic features, and are apparently closely allied. For those who wish to treat them at specific level, the names are supplied in the synonymy. (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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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4. | FNA vol. 4, p. 340. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Teutliopsis | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Sclerocalymma | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Name authority | Edmondston: Fl. Shetland, 39. (1845) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 2: 1493. (1763) | ||||||||
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