Atriplex obovata
Atriplex parishii
broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver saltbush
Parish's brittlescale, Parish's saltbush, Parrish's brittlescale
stiffly erect;
branchlets terete.
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.
numerous, all or nearly all opposite or almost all alternate, distal ones imbricate or widely separated, tending to recurve;
blade lanceolate to ovate, (2–)4–10 × 3–8 mm, rigid, base mostly rounded to cordate, margin entire, gray to white, densely scurfy (or hairy).
yellow, in clusters 2–3 mm wide, borne in panicles 6–30 cm.
mostly in distal axils pistillate in proximal axils, or mostly in terminal spike (var. persistens), or partly so (var. subtilis).
in small, very numerous glomerules in axils of elongated, terminal leafy-bracteate spikes or finally paniculate.
brown, 2.4–2.8 mm.
dark brown or almost black, 0.8–1.5 mm.
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, ovate or rhombic, slightly compressed to thickened, 2–3.5(–4) mm and about as broad or sometimes broader, often subhastately lobed, united 1/2 of length, entire or with few teeth on each side, tuberculate on 1 or both faces.
Atriplex obovata
Atriplex parishii
Varieties 5 (5 in the flora).
The Atriplex parishii complex consists of a series of microphyllous, low clump-forming annuals apparently disjunct from each other in the Central Valley of California and in near coastal southern California. Often they occupy vernal pools that dry as the season progresses; the substrates in all cases evidently are saline or alkaline, or both. For the most part, the bracteate distal leaves are cordate to rounded at the base, and spreading to spreading-ascending, and the fruiting bracteoles are mainly less than 3.5 mm in length.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Fruiting bracteoles persistent, ± thickened and/or tuberculate on 1 or both faces | → 2 |
1. Fruiting bracteoles deciduous, compressed, faces smooth or tuberculate | → 3 |
2. Stems, even in inflorescences, mainly over 1.5 mm thick; staminate flowers borne mainly in terminal spikes; fruiting bracteoles 2.5-3.5(-4) mm; Colusa, Glenn, Merced, Solano, Stanislaus, and Tulare counties. | var. persistens |
2. Stems all or at least above, filiform, less than 1.5 mm thick; staminate flowers borne mainly in axillary glomerules, only sometimes somewhat spicate; fruiting bracteoles 2.4-2.8 mm; Fresno, Kings, Kern, Madera, and Tulare counties | var. subtilis |
3. Plants with elongate slender hairs in inflorescences; foliose bracts of inflorescence spreading, tips ± recurved; plants of Los Angeles (or Orange), Riverside, and San Diego counties | var. parishii |
3. Plants merely scurfy in inflorescences; foliose bracts of inflorescence spreading-ascending, tips not or not especially recurved | → 4 |
4. Leaves all or mainly opposite, 3-7 mm; fruiting bracteoles with appendages not in rows, on abaxial surface only; Glenn, Solano, and Yolo counties | var. depressa |
4. Leaves all or mainly alternate, 4-10 mm; fruiting bracteoles with faces smooth; Tulare and Kern counties | var. minuscula |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
