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broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver saltbush

Garrett's saltbush

Habit Subshrubs, dioecious, clump forming, mainly 2–8 dm and as wide, woody at base. Shrubs or subshrubs, dioecious (rarely monoecious), mainly 2–8(–10) × 5–10+ dm, unarmed.
Stems

stiffly erect;

branchlets terete.

Leaves

tardily deciduous, alternate or proximal-most subopposite, shortly petiolate;

blade gray green, oblong-ovate to elliptic or orbiculate, 8–30(–35) × 6–20 mm, margin entire or rarely dentate, apex rounded to retuse or obtuse.

opposite or subopposite proximally, or some alternate distally;

petiole 2–6 mm;

blade yellow green, ovate to obovate, elliptic, or orbiculate, 8–55 × 6–32 mm, base obtuse to cuneate, margin entire or repand-dentate, apex rounded to acute, sparingly scurfy.

Staminate flowers

yellow, in clusters 2–3 mm wide, borne in panicles 6–30 cm.

brown to tan or yellow, in clusters 2–4 mm wide, on panicles 2–10(–15) cm.

Pistillate flowers

in small, very numerous glomerules in axils of elongated, terminal leafy-bracteate spikes or finally paniculate.

in spikes or spicate panicles 4–30 cm.

Seeds

brown, 2.4–2.8 mm.

brown, 2 mm wide.

Fruiting

bracteoles sessile or substipitate, 4–5 × 5–9 mm, base broadly cuneate, margin sharply toothed, apical tooth subtended by 2–6 equal or smaller teeth, faces smooth or rarely tuberculate.

bracteoles sessile or on stipes to 7 mm, body 4-winged, 6–10 mm and wide, toothed apically, surface smooth, reticulate, or with flattened processes, wings 3–4 mm wide.

2n

= 18.

Atriplex obovata

Atriplex garrettii

Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Fine-textured substrates, with salt desert shrub and lower pinyon-juniper communities
Elevation 1500-2000 m (4900-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; UT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Plants mainly 2-6 dm; leaves 9 or fewer on first flowering branch of current growth; bract wings denticulate; staminate flowers commonly brown; talus slopes in canyons of the Colorado River, se Utah
var. garrettii
1. Plants mainly 5-10 dm; leaves 7 or more on first flowering branch of current growth; bract wings deeply denticulate; staminate flowers yellow; vicinity of Navajo Bridge and Lee’s Ferry, Arizona
var. navajoensis
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 371. FNA vol. 4, p. 375.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton
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. 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. 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
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. glabriuscula, A. gmelinii, A. graciliflora, 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
Subordinate taxa
A. garrettii var. garrettii, A. garrettii var. navajoensis
Synonyms A. greggii, A. jonesii, A. obovata var. tuberata A. canescens subsp. garrettii, A. canescens var. garrettii
Name authority Moquin-Tandon: Chenop. Monogr. Enum., 61. (1840) Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 39: 312. (1912)
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