Atriplex obovata |
Atriplex oblongifolia |
|
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broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver saltbush |
oblong-leaf orach, oblong-leaf orache |
|
Habit | Subshrubs, dioecious, clump forming, mainly 2–8 dm and as wide, woody at base. | Herbs, erect, branching from base, mostly 6–12 dm. |
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. |
alternate above; petiole 0.5–3 cm; blade green on both sides or distal leaves whitish abaxially, triangular to lance-triangular, (20–)30–85 × 6–90 mm, base hastate or sub-cuneate, margin subentire, entire, or irregularly dentate, farinaceous at first, later glabrous. |
Flowers | in terminal or axillary ± paniculate inflorescences 6–25+ cm. |
|
Staminate flowers | yellow, in clusters 2–3 mm wide, borne in panicles 6–30 cm. |
with 5 sepals. |
Pistillate flowers | in small, very numerous glomerules in axils of elongated, terminal leafy-bracteate spikes or finally paniculate. |
dimorphic, all bracteolate and lacking sepals. |
Seeds | brown, 2.4–2.8 mm. |
vertical; of large bracteoles yellowish brown, 2–3 mm wide, flat, dull; of small bracteoles black, 1.5 mm wide or less, shiny; radicle of brown seeds subbasal to median and antrorse. |
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 | loosely spaced, of 2 sizes; large fruiting bracteoles oval to ovate, 5–6 × 5 mm, with faces lacking appendages, small ones similar in shape, 2 mm and wide. |
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2n | = 36. |
|
Atriplex obovata |
Atriplex oblongifolia |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Fine-textured substrates, with salt desert shrub and lower pinyon-juniper communities | Ruderal |
Elevation | 1500-2000 m (4900-6600 ft) | 400-1000 m (1300-3300 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico
|
SD; AB; BC; ON; Europe [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | I. J. Bassett et al. (1983) indicated that Atriplex oblongifolia formed abundant, very fertile hybrids with A. patula in the Botanic Garden at Manchester University. This is a weedy species with facies similar to both A. dioica and A. glabriuscula var. acadiensis. The proximal branches at least are opposite, similar to phases of the nearly allied A. patula, however. It is likewise an introduced ruderal weed of roadsides and other waste places. Its spread in North America awaits documentation. The thin, entire fruiting bracts without appendages are pointed to as diagnostic of this entity from other similar species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 371. | FNA vol. 4, p. 333. |
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Teutliopsis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. greggii, A. jonesii, A. obovata var. tuberata | |
Name authority | Moquin-Tandon: Chenop. Monogr. Enum., 61. (1840) | Waldstein & Kitaibel: Descr. Icon. Pl. Hung. 3: 278, plate 211. (1812) |
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