Atriplex patula |
Atriplex oblongifolia |
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common orache, halberd-leaf orache, spear orach, spear orache, spear oracle, spear saltbush, spear saltweed, spearscal e, spearscale orache |
oblong-leaf orach, oblong-leaf orache |
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Habit | Herbs, monoecious or subdioecious, (1.5–)3–9(–15) dm. | Herbs, erect, branching from base, mostly 6–12 dm. |
Stems | mostly erect and branched, branches green, obtusely angled or striate, glabrate. |
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Leaves | alternate except the proximalmost, petiolate; blade green on both sides, rhombic-lanceolate to lanceolate, oblong, or narrowly lance-oblong or hastate-ovate, 25–120 × 3–40(–75) mm, entire or toothed, proximal ones broadly cuneate or sometimes hastate subbasally with obliquely antrorse basal lobes, distal cauline leaves lanceolate and entire. |
alternate above; petiole 0.5–3 cm; blade green on both sides or distal leaves whitish abaxially, triangular to lance-triangular, (20–)30–85 × 6–90 mm, base hastate or sub-cuneate, margin subentire, entire, or irregularly dentate, farinaceous at first, later glabrous. |
Flowers | compact or interrupted spiciform or paniculiform clusters. |
in terminal or axillary ± paniculate inflorescences 6–25+ cm. |
Staminate flowers | mostly 5-merous. |
with 5 sepals. |
Pistillate flowers | dimorphic, all bracteolate and lacking sepals. |
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Seeds | dimorphic: brown, 2.5–3(–3.5) mm wide, or black, 1–2 mm wide; radicle of brown seeds subbasal to median, antrorse. |
vertical; of large bracteoles yellowish brown, 2–3 mm wide, flat, dull; of small bracteoles black, 1.5 mm wide or less, shiny; radicle of brown seeds subbasal to median and antrorse. |
Fruiting | bracteoles green becoming black, rhombic to rhombic-triangular, or ovate-rhombic, compressed, ± uniformly sized, 2–7(–20) mm, base mostly hastate, acute, margin united almost to middle, entire or sparingly toothed, surfaces tuberculate. |
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Bracteoles | loosely spaced, of 2 sizes; large fruiting bracteoles oval to ovate, 5–6 × 5 mm, with faces lacking appendages, small ones similar in shape, 2 mm and wide. |
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2n | = 36. |
= 36. |
Atriplex patula |
Atriplex oblongifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Widespread ruderal weed of nonsaline substrates such as fields, gardens, and roadsides | Ruderal |
Elevation | 0-2100 m (0-6900 ft) | 400-1000 m (1300-3300 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AL; CA; CO; DC; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MT; NC; ND; NH; NV; NY; OH; PA; RI; SD; UT; VA; VT; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; QC; SK; YT; Europe; Asia; n Africa
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SD; AB; BC; ON; Europe [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Atriplex patula appears to have been a rather recent introduction in North America from Eurasia, not arriving perhaps until sometime in the early to mid-eighteenth century. It simulates depauperate specimens of A. dioica, A. glabriuscula, and other similar species when leaves are reduced to a near-linear profile. Such specimens are difficult if not impossible to assign to any of the species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
I. J. Bassett et al. (1983) indicated that Atriplex oblongifolia formed abundant, very fertile hybrids with A. patula in the Botanic Garden at Manchester University. This is a weedy species with facies similar to both A. dioica and A. glabriuscula var. acadiensis. The proximal branches at least are opposite, similar to phases of the nearly allied A. patula, however. It is likewise an introduced ruderal weed of roadsides and other waste places. Its spread in North America awaits documentation. The thin, entire fruiting bracts without appendages are pointed to as diagnostic of this entity from other similar species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 333. | FNA vol. 4, p. 333. |
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Teutliopsis | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Teutliopsis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. hastata subsp. patula, A. hastata var. patula, Teutiopsis patula | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1053. (1753) | Waldstein & Kitaibel: Descr. Icon. Pl. Hung. 3: 278, plate 211. (1812) |
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