Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex subg. Atriplex

Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping 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. Plants annual or perennial herbs or less commonly subshrubs or shrubs, usually monoecious, erect or variously prostrate to ascending.
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 or without Kranz type leaf anatomy.
Staminate flowers

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

Pistillate flowers

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

dimorphic (or with both dimorphic and some ebracteolate) and with perianth enveloping a horizontal seed in sect. Atriplex or more typically homomorphic and borne between enclosing bracteoles.
Seeds

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

horizontal or more typically erect;

radicle mainly inferior, less commonly lateral and spreading.
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

variously shaped, margin entire or toothed, faces smooth or variously tuberculate.
2n

= 18.

Atriplex semibaccata

Atriplex subg. Atriplex
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
from FNA
AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[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.)

This subgenus is represented widely in both the old and new world species of the genus. in north america there are both indigenous and introduced members. however, even the species indigenous to the new world have affinities with those from either europe or australia. the members are mainly cool-temperate species with some of the introduced species occasionally extending into the warm-temperate regions

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 343. FNA vol. 4, p. 331.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex
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
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms A. flagellaris
Name authority R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) unknown
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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