Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex phyllostegia

Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush

leafcover saltweed, Truckee orach
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 monoecious (or entirely pistillate), erect, much-branched, rounded, bushy, 0.5–6 dm.
Stems

mostly ascending, 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.

petiole 0.3–2 cm;

blade 10–50 × 5–25 mm, base varying from shortly hastate to truncate or cuneate.
Staminate flowers

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

in small to moderate, axillary glomerules near ends of branches, or in bracteate terminal spikes.
Pistillate flowers

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

in axillary clusters.
Seeds

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

brown, 1.2 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 lanceolate or oblong, 5–14(–20) mm, sharply lobed to tuberculate at base, also often sharply cristate below usually attenuate apical lobe;

tips widely recurved-spreading.
2n

= 18.

Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex phyllostegia
Phenology Flowering spring–early winter. Flowering Apr–Aug.
Habitat Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities Valley bottoms, silty or clay, less commonly, sandy alluvium with greasewood
Elevation 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft) 1200-1500 m (3900-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NV
[WildflowerSearch 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. 368.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Phyllostegiae
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. obovata, A. pacifica, A. parishii, A. parryi, A. patula, A. pentandra, 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 Obione phyllostegia, A. draconis, A. phyllostegia var. draconis
Name authority R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) (Torrey ex S. Watson) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 108. (1874)
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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