Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex laciniata

Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush

Belgian orach, frosted orache
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, procumbent, many branched, alternate except basally, 0.06–3 dm.
Stems

reddish or yellowish, smooth or subangular.
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.

with blade ovate to lance-ovate or lanceolate to oblong, 15–45 mm, large basal lobes, obtuse, cuneate to a short petiole, margin sinuate-dentate, scurfy on both sides.
Flowers

in glomerules in distal leaf axils, axillary or in short terminal spikes.
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.

monomorphic, light brown, 3.5–4 mm wide;

radicle inferior.
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 whitish green, sessile or subsessile, broadly rhombic, (4–)6–7(–8) mm, thickened at base, becoming scaly in age, cartilaginous in basal 1/2, lateral angles strongly produced and with margin mostly entire, faces smooth or irregular, pointed, or flattened and winglike tubercles in basal 1/2.
2n

= 18.

= 18.

Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex laciniata
Phenology Flowering spring–early winter. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities Sand, cobble on more or less protected beaches, on Zostera and Fucus wrack
Elevation 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft) 0-50 m (0-200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NB; NS; PE; QC; Europe [Introduced in North America]
[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.)

Atriplex laciniata is evidently rare in North America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 343. FNA vol. 4, p. 341.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Sclerocalymma
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. 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. 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
Synonyms A. flagellaris
Name authority R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1053. (1753)
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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