Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex obovata

Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush

broadscale, mound saltbush, New Mexico saltbush, silver 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. Subshrubs, dioecious, clump forming, mainly 2–8 dm and as wide, woody at base.
Stems

stiffly erect;

branchlets terete.
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.

tardily deciduous, alternate or proximal-most subopposite, shortly petiolate;

blade gray green, oblong-ovate to elliptic or orbiculate, 8–30(–35) × 6–20 mm, margin entire or rarely dentate, apex rounded to retuse or obtuse.
Staminate flowers

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

yellow, in clusters 2–3 mm wide, borne in panicles 6–30 cm.
Pistillate flowers

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

in small, very numerous glomerules in axils of elongated, terminal leafy-bracteate spikes or finally paniculate.
Seeds

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

brown, 2.4–2.8 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 sessile or substipitate, 4–5 × 5–9 mm, base broadly cuneate, margin sharply toothed, apical tooth subtended by 2–6 equal or smaller teeth, faces smooth or rarely tuberculate.
2n

= 18.

Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex obovata
Phenology Flowering spring–early winter. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities Fine-textured substrates, with salt desert shrub and lower pinyon-juniper communities
Elevation 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft) 1500-2000 m (4900-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico
[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.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 343. FNA vol. 4, p. 371.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton
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. laciniata, A. lentiformis, A. leucophylla, A. lindleyi, A. linearis, A. littoralis, A. matamorensis, A. mucronata, A. nudicaulis, A. nummularia, A. oblongifolia, 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 A. greggii, A. jonesii, A. obovata var. tuberata
Name authority R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) Moquin-Tandon: Chenop. Monogr. Enum., 61. (1840)
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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