Atriplex serenana |
Atriplex littoralis |
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bracteate orach, bractscale, saltscale, stinking orach |
grassleaf orache, linear-leaf orache, narrow-leaf atriplex, narrow-leaf orache |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, erect or sprawling, usually branched often forming tangled mats to 10 × (3–)5–20 dm, ascending branches sparsely scurfy. | Herbs, monoecious or subdioecious, 2.5–7.5(–10) dm. | ||||
Stems | erect or forming sprawling tangled clumps and mostly green; branches erect-ascending, proximal ones opposite and ascending, sparsely scurfy when young, obtusely angled. |
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Leaves | many, subsessile or very short petiolate; blade subconcolorous, lanceolate to oblong, elliptic, or oval, (8–)10–30(–40) × 3–12(–15) mm, margin sharply dentate to entire. |
alternate or only proximalmost opposite, all shortly petiolate; blade green on both surfaces, linear, linear-oblong, linear-lanceolate, or oblong, (10–)25–80(–120) × 2–8(–12) mm, thin, gradually narrowed, margin mostly entire or some sinuate-dentate with antrorse teeth, apex obtuse to acuminate. |
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Inflorescences | of long, dense or interrupted hairy spikes often forming panicle to 20 cm; staminate flowers 4–5-merous. |
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Staminate flowers | in glomerules in terminal spikes or panicles 3–20 cm, or reduced to solitary, rounded, terminal glomerule. |
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Pistillate flower | in small clusters, axillary. |
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Seeds | brown, 1–1.3(–1.5) mm. |
dimorphic: brown, 2–2.8 mm wide, round and ± flattened, or black, 1.5–2 mm wide, round, evenly convex; radicle inferior. |
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Fruiting | bracteoles sessile or subsessile (stipe to 1 mm), cuneate-orbicular to obovate, somewhat compressed, 2.1–3.5 × (1.7–)2–3.7 mm, united 1/2 of length, margin sharply and often slenderly toothed beyond middle, faces often rather strongly veined, smooth or with 1 or more slender or flattened appendages. |
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Pistillate | bracteoles sessile, triangular to ovate or ovate-rhombic, (3–)5–7 mm, mostly denticulate, rarely subentire, faces tuberculate almost distinct, green becoming brown or black. |
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2n | = 18. |
= 18. |
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Atriplex serenana |
Atriplex littoralis |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||
Habitat | Sea beaches and other saline habitats, old ports and ballast dumps | |||||
Elevation | mainly below 100 m (mainly below 300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
CA; NV; nw Mexico
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IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; NH; OH; PA; NB; NS; PE; Europe [Introduced in North America] |
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 361. | FNA vol. 4. | ||||
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Arenariae | Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Teutliopsis | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | A. hastata var. littoralis, A. patula var. littoralis, A. patula subsp. littoralis | |||||
Name authority | A. Nelson ex Abrams: Fl. Los Angeles, 128. (1904) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1054. (1753) | ||||
Web links |