Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex graciliflora

Blue Valley orach, slenderflower saltbush
Habit Herbs, branching from base, mainly 1–3 dm.
Stems

often suffused with red-purple, terete, sparingly farinose when young.
Leaves

mainly alternate, numerous;

petiole 2–12(–16) mm;

blade cordate-ovate to orbicular, subreniform, cordate, or deltoid, (5–)8–20(–25) mm and about as wide or wider, base truncate to cordate (or attenuate when young), apex rounded to obtuse or acute.
Staminate flowers

in loose, deciduous, terminal panicles overtopping foliage, rachis and branches filiform, glomerules often beadlike in alternate position along rachis, perianth 5-lobed.
Pistillate flowers

axillary.
Seeds

white, 3 mm wide, dull.
Fruiting

bracteoles on stipes 2–6 mm, samaralike, suborbicular, oblong or cordate in outline, winged, compressed, 6–16 mm wide, margins 2–4 times as wide as body, wings undulate or entire, surfaces smooth.

Atriplex graciliflora
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Saltbush, mat-atriplex, seepweed, greasewood, rabbitbrush, and tamarix communities on saline, often salt encrusted and semibarren substrates derived from Mancos Shale, Tropic Shale, Entrada, and other fine-textured formations
Elevation 1100-2000 m (3600-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; UT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Atriplex graciliflora is unique among our indigenous atriplices in having samaralike, entire fruiting bracteoles. When the bracteoles are considered along with the slender, terminal, staminate panicles of alternating beadlike glomerules, the species is unmatched. Its relationship is apparently with A. saccaria, which has undergone considerable morphologic radiation within the Four Corners region.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 346.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Graciliflorae
Sibling taxa
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. 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
Synonyms Obione graciliflora
Name authority M. E. Jones: Proc. Cali f. Acad. Sci., ser. 2, 5: 717. (1895)
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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