Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex heterosperma

orach, Russian atriplex, Russian atriplex orach
Habit Herbs, monoecious, erect, branching from base, mostly 5–15 dm.
Leaves

alternate except proximal-most;

petiole 2–3 cm;

blade green on both sides, triangular to lance-triangular, 30–120 × 12–90 mm, hastate or subcuneate, margin subentire or irregularly dentate, farinaceous at first, finally glabrous.
Flowers

in terminal or axillary pyramidal panicles 6–25+ cm.
Staminate flowers

5-merous, with bracteoles free to base.
Pistillate flowers

dimorphic, all bracteolate and lacking sepals.
Seeds

vertical; of larger bracteoles yellowish brown, flat, 2–3 mm wide, dull; of smaller bracteoles black, 1.5 mm wide or less, shiny;

radicle inferior, basal.
Fruiting

bracteoles orbiculate-ovate, of 2 sizes;

larger ones 5–6 × 5 mm;

smaller ones 2 × 2 mm, margin entire, surfaces smooth.
2n

= 36.

Atriplex heterosperma
Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Riparian and palustrine (less commonly ruderal) habitats
Elevation 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; ME; NE; NV; NY; OR; SD; UT; WY; AB; BC; MB; ON; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Russian atriplex occurs with greasewood, saltgrass, cottonwood, tamarix, and weedy annuals. It is a handsome, vigorous ruderal, weedy annual indigenous to Europe east to Chinese Turkestan that appears to be invading saline lowland and other disturbed areas throughout much of North America. It is similar to Atriplex prostrata from which it can be distinguished by the entire margin and smooth surfaces of the fruiting bracteoles. Additionally, the leaves are thick-textured and often bear one or more lobes or teeth irregularly along the blade above the subbasal main hastate lobe. The staminate spikes when young are very slender, mainly less than 2.5 mm thick.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 336.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Teutliopsis
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. graciliflora, 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
Name authority Bunge: Beitr. Fl. Russl., 272. (1852)
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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