Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex parishii

Atriplex corrugata

Parish's brittlescale, Parish's saltbush, Parrish's brittlescale

mat-atriplex, mat-saltbush, matscale
Habit Herbs, erect or spreading to prostrate, 0.5–3 dm; branches almost horizontal to ascending, fragile, white scurfy or villous (in var. parishii). Shrubs dioecious (rarely monoecious), low spreading (often appearing as if prostrate), mainly 0.3–1.5 × 3–15 dm.
Leaves

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).

persistent, sessile, opposite proximally, alternate distally;

blade linear to linear-oblanceolate, or oblong, 3–18 × 2–6 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse.
Staminate flowers

mostly in distal axils pistillate in proximal axils, or mostly in terminal spike (var. persistens), or partly so (var. subtilis).

yellow to brownish, in clusters 3–6 mm wide, borne in spikes 1–8 cm.
Pistillate flowers

in leafy bracteate spikes 5–15 cm.
Seeds

dark brown or almost black, 0.8–1.5 mm.

brown, 1.5 mm wide.
Fruiting

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.

bracteoles sessile or subsessile, panduriform, 3–5 × 4–6 mm, united to beyond middle, margin entire or undulate, apex rounded to acute, densely tuberculate (or smooth).
2n

= 36.

Atriplex parishii

Atriplex corrugata
Phenology Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Saline, usually fine-textured substrates derived from Mancos Shale, Tropic Shale, Morrison, Duchesne River, and other similar formations in mat-atriplex and Castle Valley saltbush communities
Elevation 1200-2200 m (3900-7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; NM; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Mat-saltbush is known to form intermediates with both Atriplex confertifolia and A. gardneri var. cuneata. This saltbush is a valuable browse plant on the sparsely vegetated clays and silts of eastern Utah, especially on the Mancos Shale exposures, where it is often the only woody vegetation present.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
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
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 356. FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Pusillae 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. pacifica, 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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
A. parishii var. depressa, A. parishii var. minuscula, A. parishii var. parishii, A. parishii var. persistens, A. parishii var. subtilis
Synonyms Obione parishii A. nuttallii var. corrugata
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 17: 377. (1882) S. Watson: Bot. Gaz. 16: 345. (1891)
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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