Atriplex obovata |
Atriplex leucophylla |
|
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broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver saltbush |
beach saltbush, sea scale, whiteleaf orach |
|
Habit | Subshrubs, dioecious, clump forming, mainly 2–8 dm and as wide, woody at base. | Herbs, prostrate (decumbent or procumbent), many branched, 1.5–6 dm, somewhat woody below, coarse, white scurfy. |
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. |
many, sometimes crowded; blade orbiculate to ovate or ovate-lanceolate to elliptic or oblong, 8–40 × 4–18 mm, base obtuse or rounded, white scurfy. |
Staminate flowers | yellow, in clusters 2–3 mm wide, borne in panicles 6–30 cm. |
in dense terminal spikes. |
Pistillate flowers | in small, very numerous glomerules in axils of elongated, terminal leafy-bracteate spikes or finally paniculate. |
in few-flowered, axillary clusters. |
Seeds | brown, 2.4–2.8 mm. |
dark red-brown, 2.5–3 mm. |
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 not compressed, 5–7 mm, faces usually with wartlike projections, scurfy. |
Atriplex obovata |
Atriplex leucophylla |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | Flowering spring–fall. |
Habitat | Fine-textured substrates, with salt desert shrub and lower pinyon-juniper communities | Sea beaches, along coasts, at higher elevation inland |
Elevation | 1500-2000 m (4900-6600 ft) | 0-30 m (0-100 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico
|
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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Discussion | Atriplex leucophylla occurs with Potentilla, Camissonia, Ambrosia, Cakile, and Calystegia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 371. | FNA vol. 4, p. 366. |
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Leucophyllae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. greggii, A. jonesii, A. obovata var. tuberata | Obione leucophylla |
Name authority | Moquin-Tandon: Chenop. Monogr. Enum., 61. (1840) | (Moquin-Tandon) D. Dietrich: Syn. Pl. 5: 536. (1852) |
Web links |