Atriplex parishii |
Atriplex polycarpa |
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Parish's brittlescale, Parish's saltbush, Parrish's brittlescale |
allscale, allscale saltbush, cattle saltbush, cattle-spinach, desert saltbush |
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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 or sub-monoecious, mainly 10–20 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). |
tardily deciduous, alternate, sessile or nearly so; blade spatulate to obovate or oblong, 3–15(–2.) × 2–4 mm, margin entire, apex typically acute. |
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Staminate flowers | mostly in distal axils pistillate in proximal axils, or mostly in terminal spike (var. persistens), or partly so (var. subtilis). |
appearing silvery, in clusters 1.5–3 mm wide, borne in paniculate, naked spikes 5–25 cm; anthers yellow. |
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Pistillate flowers | with fruiting bracteoles sessile, cuneate-orbicular to semicircular, 1.5–2.5 × 2–3 mm, united to near middle, margin deeply laciniate-dentate, tuberculate or sometimes smooth dorsally. |
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Seeds | dark brown or almost black, 0.8–1.5 mm. |
pale brown, 1–1.5 mm. |
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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. |
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2n | = 18, 36. |
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Atriplex parishii |
Atriplex polycarpa |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Warm desert shrub communities (creosote bush, ambrosia, shadscale, mesquite, saltgrass, etc.), mainly in fine-textured saline substrates | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 60-1500 m (200-4900 ft) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
CA
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AZ; CA; NV; UT; n Mexico (Baja California to Sonora)
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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.) |
Atriplex polycarpa consists of two or more chromosomal races based on different polyploid levels. The races form hybrids with Atriplex canescens in south California, resulting in partially stabilized entities known as varieties laciniata and macilenta. The plants evidently form hybrids with A. lentiformis. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 356. | FNA vol. 4, p. 376. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Pusillae | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton | ||||||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Obione parishii | Obione polycarpa, A. curvidensB | ||||||||||||||||
Name authority | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 17: 377. (1882) | (Torrey) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 117. (1874) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |