Atriplex semibaccata |
Atriplex sect. Semibaccata |
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Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush |
Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush |
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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. | Plants annual or short-lived perennial, erect to procumbent or diffuse. |
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 Kranz-type anatomy. |
Staminate flowers | in small, terminal, leaf-bracteate glomerules 1.5 mm wide. |
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Pistillate flowers | solitary or in few-flowered clusters in almost all but distalmost leaves. |
lacking perianth, enclosed by a pair of bracteoles. |
Seeds | dimorphic: black, 1.5–1.7 mm, or brown, 2 mm. |
ascending or erect; radicle lateral. |
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. |
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Bracteoles | distinct or united, thin or variously thickened, but not spongy, appendages tuberculate, foliaceous, inflated, spinose, or lacking, not spongy. |
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2n | = 18. |
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Atriplex semibaccata |
Atriplex sect. Semibaccata |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–early winter. | |
Habitat | Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities | |
Elevation | 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
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Introduced in United States and elsewhere; Australia |
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.) |
Species ca. 36 species (2 in the 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 |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. flagellaris | A. unranked Semibaccatae |
Name authority | R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) | (Standley) Ulbrich: in H. G. A. Engler et al., Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2, 16c: 515. (1934) |
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