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Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush
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Watson's orach, Watson's saltbush
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| 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, dioecious, prostrate or decumbent, 2–10 dm. |
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forming tangled mats 1–3 m across, woody at base, white scurfy. |
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. |
numerous, mostly opposite; blade broadly elliptic to ovate, 8–25 mm, often surpassing internodes, thick and fleshy (when fresh), margin entire, apex acutish, white scurfy. |
in small, terminal, leaf-bracteate glomerules 1.5 mm wide. |
in large glomerules in naked, interrupted terminal spikes; calyx 5-cleft. |
solitary or in few-flowered clusters in almost all but distalmost leaves. |
in small, axillary clusters. |
dimorphic: black, 1.5–1.7 mm, or brown, 2 mm. |
light brown, 1–1.5 mm. |
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 short stipitate, ovate to rhombic, united to beyond middle, 4–8 mm, margin entire to erose, faces plane. |
= 18. |
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| Flowering spring–early winter. |
Flowering spring–fall. |
| Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities |
Coastal and insular bluffs, beaches, strands, salt marshes, sage scrub, with saltgrass and other salt-tolerant species |
| 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft) |
0-100 m (0-300 ft) |
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AZ; CA; DC; NM; NV; TX; UT; WA; Australia [Introduced in North America]
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CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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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 watsonii is a sprawling plant that exhibits much variation in leaf size, as attested in the clearly staminate type collection, Palmer 334, wherein the range in size is from 5–25 × 2.5–11 mm wide. Although typically placed adjacent to A. matamorensis, the other dioecious perennial, the two taxa are probably not closely allied. The broader-leaved phases simulate closely A. leucophylla, with which it is sometimes confused, and perhaps the relationship lies in that direction, but it closely simulates A. californica, with which it is probably most closely allied. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
| FNA vol. 4, p. 343. |
FNA vol. 4, p. 367. |
| Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata |
Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Californicae |
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. 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. wolfii, A. wrightii |
| A. flagellaris |
A. decumbens |
| R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810) |
A. Nelson ex Abrams: Fl. Los Angeles, 128. (1904) |
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CA
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
