Atriplex semibaccata |
Atriplex lindleyi |
|
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Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush |
Lindley's saltbush |
|
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 suffrutescent perennial, 1.5–4 dm, woody at base. |
Stems | terete, finely white-mealy 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, petiolate proximally, becoming sessile distally, crowded; blade oblanceolate or proximal rhombic, 10–20(–30) × 3–15 mm, base cuneate or attenuate, margin entire to repand-denticulate, apex acute to obtuse, scurfy. |
Staminate flowers | in small, terminal, leaf-bracteate glomerules 1.5 mm wide. |
in axillary glomerules, in short axillary spikes or terminal spikes. |
Pistillate flowers | solitary or in few-flowered clusters in almost all but distalmost leaves. |
axillary, solitary or few and clustered below staminate. |
Seeds | dimorphic: black, 1.5–1.7 mm, or brown, 2 mm. |
dimorphic: dark reddish brown, 1.5 mm wide, or black, slightly smaller; radicle basal, horizontal. |
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, bordered by narrow horizontal wing or acutely angled, broadly turbinate or hemispheric, united except at minute apical tips, 6–12 mm, spongy and inflated at maturity, flattened at summit. |
2n | = 18. |
|
Atriplex semibaccata |
Atriplex lindleyi |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–early winter. | |
Habitat | Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities | Sparingly escaped from cultivation |
Elevation | 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
|
CA; Australia [Introduced in North America] |
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.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 343. | FNA vol. 4, p. 342. |
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Spongiocarpus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. flagellaris | A. halimoides |
Name authority | R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) | Moquin-Tandon: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 13(2): 100. (1849) |
Web links |