Atriplex semibaccata
Atriplex klebergorum
Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush
Kleberg orach, Kleberg's saltbush
erect, diffuse;
branches alternate, numerous, horizontal or distally ascending, terete, 1.5–4 dm, densely white farinose when young, glabrate in age;
bark becoming pale brownish white and flaky;
internodes mostly shorter than 1(–2.4) cm.
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, proximalmost subopposite, sessile;
blade ovate-deltoid, 0.5–1.5(–2.5) × 5–12(–15) mm, rather firm and flat, base rounded, truncate, or slightly clasping, margin entire or toothed, apex acute, very densely canescent-farinose with a greenish yellow tinge.
sessile, axillary, inconspicuous, mostly in leafy lateral branches with extremely short internodes, arising toward tips of secondary branches.
in small, terminal, leaf-bracteate glomerules 1.5 mm wide.
in most distal axils, 2 mm wide;
sepals 3–5, mostly hyaline, curved elliptic, 1.5–1.7 mm, mucronulate, farinose dorsally.
solitary or in few-flowered clusters in almost all but distalmost leaves.
densely farinose;
bracteoles adnate to ovary.
dimorphic: black, 1.5–1.7 mm, or brown, 2 mm.
dark reddish brown, round-lenticular, 1.5 mm wide, shining;
radicle superior.
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 variably and irregularly 3–7-cleft, ovate-orbicular, 3.1–4.7 × (3.2–)4–7 mm, typically somewhat constricted below middle, with terminal lobes (1–)1.5–2.8 mm, densely scurfy, faces doubly cristate or smooth.
= 18.
Atriplex semibaccata
Atriplex klebergorum
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.)
Of conservation concern.
The species was noted by its author as apparently belonging in sect. Argenteae Standley; I concur with that alignment. The overall shape of the bracteoles with a subterminal constriction is reminiscent of those of Atriplex powellii, but the bracteole shape is otherwise distinctive, and the long marginal teeth and occasional elongate cristate processes on the faces are unmatched elsewhere in the Argenteae.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
