Atriplex semibaccata |
Atriplex polycarpa |
|
---|---|---|
Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush |
allscale, allscale saltbush, cattle saltbush, cattle-spinach, desert 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. | Shrubs, dioecious or sub-monoecious, mainly 10–20 dm. |
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, sessile or nearly so; blade spatulate to obovate or oblong, 3–15(–2.) × 2–4 mm, margin entire, apex typically acute. |
Staminate flowers | in small, terminal, leaf-bracteate glomerules 1.5 mm wide. |
appearing silvery, in clusters 1.5–3 mm wide, borne in paniculate, naked spikes 5–25 cm; anthers yellow. |
Pistillate flowers | solitary or in few-flowered clusters in almost all but distalmost leaves. |
with fruiting bracteoles sessile, cuneate-orbicular to semicircular, 1.5–2.5 × 2–3 mm, united to near middle, margin deeply laciniate-dentate, tuberculate or sometimes smooth dorsally. |
Seeds | dimorphic: black, 1.5–1.7 mm, or brown, 2 mm. |
pale brown, 1–1.5 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. |
|
2n | = 18. |
= 18, 36. |
Atriplex semibaccata |
Atriplex polycarpa |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–early winter. | Flowering spring–fall. |
Habitat | Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities | Warm desert shrub communities (creosote bush, ambrosia, shadscale, mesquite, saltgrass, etc.), mainly in fine-textured saline substrates |
Elevation | 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | 60-1500 m (200-4900 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
|
AZ; CA; NV; UT; n Mexico (Baja California to Sonora)
|
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 polycarpa consists of two or more chromosomal races based on different polyploid levels. The races form hybrids with Atriplex canescens in south California, resulting in partially stabilized entities known as varieties laciniata and macilenta. The plants evidently form hybrids with A. lentiformis. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 343. | FNA vol. 4, p. 376. |
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Pterochiton |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. flagellaris | Obione polycarpa, A. curvidensB |
Name authority | R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) | (Torrey) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 117. (1874) |
Web links |