Atriplex semibaccata |
Atriplex corrugata |
|
---|---|---|
Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush |
mat-atriplex, mat-saltbush, matscale |
|
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. | Shrubs dioecious (rarely monoecious), low spreading (often appearing as if prostrate), mainly 0.3–1.5 × 3–15 dm. |
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. |
persistent, sessile, opposite proximally, alternate distally; blade linear to linear-oblanceolate, or oblong, 3–18 × 2–6 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse. |
Staminate flowers | in small, terminal, leaf-bracteate glomerules 1.5 mm wide. |
yellow to brownish, in clusters 3–6 mm wide, borne in spikes 1–8 cm. |
Pistillate flowers | solitary or in few-flowered clusters in almost all but distalmost leaves. |
in leafy bracteate spikes 5–15 cm. |
Seeds | dimorphic: black, 1.5–1.7 mm, or brown, 2 mm. |
brown, 1.5 mm wide. |
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 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 | = 18. |
= 36. |
Atriplex semibaccata |
Atriplex corrugata |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–early winter. | Flowering spring–fall. |
Habitat | Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities | 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 | 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | 1200-2200 m (3900-7200 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
|
CO; NM; UT
|
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.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 343. | FNA vol. 4. |
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. flagellaris | A. nuttallii var. corrugata |
Name authority | R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) | S. Watson: Bot. Gaz. 16: 345. (1891) |
Web links |