Atriplex obovata |
Atriplex parryi |
|
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broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver saltbush |
Parry's saltbush |
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Habit | Subshrubs, dioecious, clump forming, mainly 2–8 dm and as wide, woody at base. | Shrubs, dioecious, mainly 2–5 dm, armed. |
Stems | stiffly erect; branchlets terete. |
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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. |
, short petiolate to sessile; blade orbiculate-cordate, or ovate-deltate to elliptic, 7–16(–22) × 6–10(–16) mm, base truncate or tapering, entire or less commonly subhastate. |
Staminate flowers | yellow, in clusters 2–3 mm wide, borne in panicles 6–30 cm. |
in glomerules on interrupted, leafy paniculate spikes. |
Pistillate flowers | in small, very numerous glomerules in axils of elongated, terminal leafy-bracteate spikes or finally paniculate. |
in small glomerules borne in leafy, paniculate spikes. |
Seeds | brown, 2.4–2.8 mm. |
brown, 1.3–1.9 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 sessile or nearly so, truncate-flabelliform, 3–4 × 3–5 mm, thick and rigid, spongy, united to beyond middle, margin entire, faces smooth. |
Atriplex obovata |
Atriplex parryi |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | Flowering spring–fall. |
Habitat | Fine-textured substrates, with salt desert shrub and lower pinyon-juniper communities | Saline, fine-textured soils |
Elevation | 1500-2000 m (4900-6600 ft) | 60-1500 m (200-4900 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico
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CA; NV
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Discussion | Atriplex parryi occurs with greasewood, saltbush, saltgrass, and Nitrophila. The cordate-clasping, sessile leaves and spiny branches distinguish this species from its nearest congeners. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 371. | FNA vol. 4, p. 378. |
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. greggii, A. jonesii, A. obovata var. tuberata | |
Name authority | Moquin-Tandon: Chenop. Monogr. Enum., 61. (1840) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 17: 378. (1882) |
Web links |