Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex coronata

Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush

crownscale, wedgescale
Habit Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, decumbent-prostrate, unarmed, mainly 0.5–8 dm and spreading to 15+ dm wide, unarmed, white scurfy when young; branches not angled. Herbs, erect or decumbent, 0.5–6 dm; branches terete, fructiferous almost to base, scurfy when young.
Leaves

many, alternate, subsessile or short petiolate;

blade 1-veined, spatulate or obovate to oblong or elliptic, mainly 5–30(–40) × 2–9(–12) mm, base attenuate, margin remotely dentate to subentire, apex obtuse.

alternate, subsessile or proximal short petiolate;

blade ascending, oblong, oblong-ovate, or lanceolate to elliptic, 5–40 × 2–10 mm, thin, base acute to obtuse, margin entire, apex acute to acuminate.
Flowers

of both sexes in small axillary glomerules, 5-merous.
Staminate flowers

in small, terminal, leaf-bracteate glomerules 1.5 mm wide.

Pistillate flowers

solitary or in few-flowered clusters in almost all but distalmost leaves.

Seeds

dimorphic: black, 1.5–1.7 mm, or brown, 2 mm.

light brown to amber, 1–1.5 mm.
Fruiting

bracteoles red-fleshy at maturity, sessile or short stipitate, strongly veined, rhombic, convex, 3–6.6 × 2.8–4.5 mm, united at base, margin toothed, apex obtuse to acute.

bracteoles almost sessile, broadly cuneate, 2–5 × (2–)2.5–5 mm, united to summit, truncate at summit, sides smooth or obscurely tuberculate.
2n

= 18.

= 36.

Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex coronata
Phenology Flowering spring–early winter.
Habitat Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities
Elevation 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The red-fleshy fruiting bracteoles are diagnostic of this introduced perennial, which is multi-stemmed from an often buried woody caudex.

The Australian species Atriplex muelleri Bentham is somewhat similar. It has been has reported, but not verified, in the North American flora.

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

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Although placed within the Atriplex argentea species complex by P. C. Standley (1916), this taxon appears more nearly allied to A. cordulata, differing mainly in leaf shape, round-ovate or deltoid-ovate to elliptic or lanceolate (not ovate to cordate-ovate), and markedly tuberculate faces of the fruiting bracteoles.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Stems ± erect; body of fruiting bracteoles ± semicircular in profile, compressed or ± spheric; tubercles dense; marginal teeth ± equal.
var. notatior
1. Stems decumbent to ascending; body of fruiting bracteoles approaching circular or flabellate in profile, ± compressed; tubercles usually few; marginal teeth unequal
→ 2
2. Fruiting bracteoles 2-4 mm; basal branches and leaves typically opposite.
var. vallicola
2. Fruiting bracteoles (2-)4-5 mm; basal branches and leaves typically alternate
var. coronata
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 343. FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Pusillae
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. parishii, A. parryi, A. patula, A. pentandra, A. phyllostegia, A. pleiantha, A. polycarpa, A. powellii, A. prostrata, A. pusilla, A. rosea, A. saccaria, 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. 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. 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. coronata var. coronata, A. coronata var. notatior, A. coronata var. vallicola
Synonyms A. flagellaris A. elegans var. coronata, Obione coronata
Name authority R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 114. (1874)
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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