Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex sect. Covilleiae

Atriplex subg. Obione
Habit Plants annual, monoecious or subdioecious, glabrate. Plants annual or perennial, monoecious to subdioecious or less commonly dioecious.
Leaves

without Kranz anatomy, alternate, petiolate;

blade sharply triangular-hastate or less commonly some of them entire, with overall shape ovate to lanceolate or elliptic.

usually with or, uncommonly, without Kranz anatomy.
Staminate flowers

in axillary glomerules or in naked terminal spikes.

with calyx lobes crested or not.
Pistillate flowers

lacking or rarely with a perianth (in A. covillei, A. pleiantha, and A. suckleyi), enclosed by a pair of bracteoles.
Seeds

radicle superior.

erect;

radicle typically superior (except in A. pleiantha), erect, tip adjacent to styles.
Fruiting

bracteoles sessile or stipitate, mostly 3-lobed, lateral lobes rounded, united only at base, the enclosed pistillate flower with calyx of (1–)3(–5) segments.

Bracteoles

cuneate to ovate or obovate united at least to middle, faces with tubercles or crests or smooth.

Atriplex sect. Covilleiae

Atriplex subg. Obione
Distribution
w United States
Mainly w North America; also Old World
Discussion

Species 1.

The pattern of venation in this section is very similar to that of the closely comparable Atriplex phyllostegia, even though the veins lack the associated C4 arrangement of chlorenchyma cells surrounding the veins. The plants differ otherwise as noted in the descriptions. Placement of this species within the segregate genus Endolepis by various workers is based on two morphologic characteristics considered to be of fundamental importance, i.e., the lack of Kranz leaf anatomy and the presence of sepals subtending the ovary within the fruiting bracteoles. Sepals of staminate flowers lack the distinctive crests seen in A. [Endolepis] suckleyi, a feature on which the genus Endolepis was based. The placement of A. covillei within Endolepis, while convenient, does not take into account the overall similarity of this species to the evidently related A. phyllostegia. Neither does it take into account the potential for recurrence of sepals subtending the ovaries as possibly derived features.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species ca. 33 (27 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 368. FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms subg. Obione, A. section Obione
Name authority S. L. Welsh: Rhodora 102: 425. (2001) (Gaertner) S. L. Welsh: Rhodora 102: 418. (2001)
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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