Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex pacifica

Atriplex obovata

Davidson's saltbush, Pacific orach, south coast saltbush, south coast saltscale

broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver saltbush
Habit Herbs, annual, prostrate, sometimes tinged red, 1–6 dm, forming tangled masses 3–10 dm diam., lightly scurfy when young. Subshrubs, dioecious, clump forming, mainly 2–8 dm and as wide, woody at base.
Stems

stiffly erect;

branchlets terete.
Leaves

numerous, sessile or proximal short petiolate;

blade greenish adaxially, paler abaxially, oblanceolate to spatulate-elliptic or oval, (3–)5–18 × 1–8 mm, margin entire, more scurfy abaxially.

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.
Staminate flowers

in glomerules largely in distal bractless axils, thus short spicate;

calyx 5-cleft.

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

in proximal axils.

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

light brown, 0.8–1 mm.

brown, 2.4–2.8 mm.
Fruiting

bracteoles subsessile or stipe to 0.3 mm, suborbiculate to obovate, 1–1.5(–2) × 1.1–1.8 mm, united to middle, margin minutely 3–5-toothed at apex, otherwise entire, apex green, faces smooth or rarely tuberculate.

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.

Atriplex pacifica

Atriplex obovata
Phenology Flowering early spring–fall. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Mainly on sea bluffs Fine-textured substrates, with salt desert shrub and lower pinyon-juniper communities
Elevation 0-100 m (0-300 ft) 1500-2000 m (4900-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The name Atriplex ramosissima was published by Moquin-Tandon as a synonym, based on a name on a specimen in Nuttall’s herbarium.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 363. FNA vol. 4, p. 371.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Arenariae Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton
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. obovata, 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. 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
Synonyms Obione microcarpa, A. ramosissima A. greggii, A. jonesii, A. obovata var. tuberata
Name authority A. Nelson: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 17: 99. (1904) Moquin-Tandon: Chenop. Monogr. Enum., 61. (1840)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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