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broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver saltbush

four-corners orach

Habit Subshrubs, dioecious, clump forming, mainly 2–8 dm and as wide, woody at base. Herbs, branching from base, mainly 0.5–1.5 dm, glabrous or sparingly 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.

alternate to subopposite, petiolate;

blade ovate to suborbiculate, 5–18(–20) mm, about as wide, margin entire, apex obtuse to acute.

Staminate flowers

yellow, in clusters 2–3 mm wide, borne in panicles 6–30 cm.

in short terminal spikes.

Pistillate flowers

in small, very numerous glomerules in axils of elongated, terminal leafy-bracteate spikes or finally paniculate.

Seeds

brown, 2.4–2.8 mm.

falling at maturity, black, 1.5 mm, shining, smooth.

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 short stipitate, compressed, 3–7 mm wide and about as long, entire;

perianth consisting of 5 hyaline, sparsely ciliate scales 1–1.2 mm.

Atriplex obovata

Atriplex pleiantha

Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering late summer–fall.
Habitat Fine-textured substrates, with salt desert shrub and lower pinyon-juniper communities Salt-desert shrub community
Elevation 1500-2000 m (4900-6600 ft) 1400-1500 m (4600-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; UT
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 371. FNA vol. 4, p. 345.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Pleianthae
Sibling taxa
A. acanthocarpa, A. amnicola, A. argentea, A. californica, A. canescens, A. confertifolia, A. cordulata, A. coronata, A. corrugata, A. coulteri, A. covillei, A. dioica, A. elegans, A. fruticulosa, A. gardneri, A. garrettii, A. glabriuscula, A. gmelinii, A. graciliflora, A. heterosperma, A. holocarpa, A. hortensis, A. hymenelytra, A. joaquiniana, A. klebergorum, A. laciniata, A. lentiformis, A. leucophylla, A. lindleyi, A. linearis, A. littoralis, A. matamorensis, A. mucronata, A. nudicaulis, A. nummularia, A. oblongifolia, A. pacifica, A. parishii, A. parryi, A. patula, A. pentandra, A. phyllostegia, A. pleiantha, A. polycarpa, A. powellii, A. prostrata, A. pusilla, A. rosea, A. saccaria, A. semibaccata, A. serenana, A. spinifera, A. suberecta, A. suckleyi, A. tatarica, A. torreyi, A. truncata, A. tularensis, A. watsonii, A. wolfii, A. wrightii
A. acanthocarpa, A. amnicola, A. argentea, A. californica, A. canescens, A. confertifolia, A. cordulata, A. coronata, A. corrugata, A. coulteri, A. covillei, A. dioica, A. elegans, A. fruticulosa, A. gardneri, A. garrettii, A. glabriuscula, A. gmelinii, A. graciliflora, A. heterosperma, A. holocarpa, A. hortensis, A. hymenelytra, A. joaquiniana, A. klebergorum, A. laciniata, A. lentiformis, A. leucophylla, A. lindleyi, A. linearis, A. littoralis, A. matamorensis, A. mucronata, A. nudicaulis, A. nummularia, A. oblongifolia, A. obovata, A. pacifica, A. parishii, A. parryi, A. patula, A. pentandra, A. phyllostegia, A. polycarpa, A. powellii, A. prostrata, A. pusilla, A. rosea, A. saccaria, A. semibaccata, A. serenana, A. spinifera, A. suberecta, A. suckleyi, A. tatarica, A. torreyi, A. truncata, A. tularensis, A. watsonii, A. wolfii, A. wrightii
Synonyms A. greggii, A. jonesii, A. obovata var. tuberata Proatriplex pleiantha
Name authority Moquin-Tandon: Chenop. Monogr. Enum., 61. (1840) W. A. Weber: Madroño 10: 189, figs. 1, 2. (1950)
Web links