Atriplex obovata |
Atriplex nudicaulis |
|
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broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver saltbush |
Baltic saltbush, nude orach |
|
Habit | Subshrubs, dioecious, clump forming, mainly 2–8 dm and as wide, woody at base. | Herbs, monoecious, pale green, 0.5–3 dm, glabrous. |
Stems | stiffly erect; branchlets terete. |
simple or branched, erect or ascending, terete or subangular. |
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. |
alternate or the proximalmost opposite, blade green, oblong, lanceolate, or ovate, proximal leaves lanceolate to rhombic-ovate, 10–30 × 5–13 mm, base rounded or hastately to cuneately narrowed to petiole, margin nearly always entire (some hastate), apex acute or rounded, rarely obtuse, glabrous on both sides. |
Flowers | in rather loose spiciform, axillary or terminal inflorescences. |
|
Staminate flowers | yellow, in clusters 2–3 mm wide, borne in panicles 6–30 cm. |
5-merous. |
Pistillate flowers | in small, very numerous glomerules in axils of elongated, terminal leafy-bracteate spikes or finally paniculate. |
enclosed by paired bracteoles. |
Seeds | brown, 2.4–2.8 mm. |
small, not or only moderately dimorphic: black, convex, 1.5–2 mm wide, lustrous, or light brown or olivaceous, compressed, 2.5–3 mm wide, duller, with subbasal, spreading radicle. |
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 green, midvein never impressed, sessile or with stipes 0.5–1.5 mm, broadly ovate to rhombic-ovate, 3–5 mm, distinct nearly to base, base rounded or more often hastate-cuneate, margin entire or sparingly toothed, apex acute or acuminate, faces smooth. |
2n | = 18. |
|
Atriplex obovata |
Atriplex nudicaulis |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | Flowering late summer–fall. |
Habitat | Fine-textured substrates, with salt desert shrub and lower pinyon-juniper communities | Coastal sites |
Elevation | 1500-2000 m (4900-6600 ft) | 0 m (0 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico
|
NF |
Discussion | M. M. Iljin, (1936) definitely placed Atriplex praecox within the synonymy of A. nudicaulis. The following note is included in Flora Europaea (P. Aellen 1964b): “In the Baltic and arctic Russia many subspecies of, or species related to 19 [i.e., A. longipes Dreger] have been described. Most of these are sympatric and are probably more correctly treated as variants of this group.” Listed are both A. nudicaulis and A. praecox, followed by short descriptions. Both have stalked bracteoles circa 5–6 mm, with the former being 3-veined and with lateral reticulum, the latter being 1-veined. If they are the same, then nudicaulis is the earliest name. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 371. | FNA vol. 4, p. 339. |
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Teutliopsis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. greggii, A. jonesii, A. obovata var. tuberata | A. longipes subsp. praecox, A. praecox |
Name authority | Moquin-Tandon: Chenop. Monogr. Enum., 61. (1840) | Boguslaw: L sn. Zurn. 1: 30. (1846) |
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