Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex truncata

Atriplex semibaccata

truncate saltbrush, wedge orach, wedge orache, wedgeleaf orache, wedgescale, wedgescale orache, wedgescale saltbush

Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, creeping saltbush
Habit Herbs, typically erect. 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.
Stems

simple or more commonly branched throughout, mainly 2–8(–10) dm, branches mostly obtusely angled;

herbage scurfy, becoming glabrate.

Leaves

alternate or proximalmost opposite, short petiolate proximally, sessile and often cordate-clasping distally;

blade ovate to deltoid or oval, 4–30(–40) × 3–30 mm, base truncate or subhastate to rounded, margin entire or dentate, apex acute to obtuse.

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.
Flowers

in axillary glomerules.

Staminate flowers

in glomerules mainly in distal axils;

sepals 3–5.

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

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

brown, 1–2 mm wide.

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

bracteoles scarcely compressed, 2–3 mm and as wide, apex truncate to broadly rounded, with 3 (or more) teeth across summit, surfaces smooth (or rarely tuberculate).

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.

Atriplex truncata

Atriplex semibaccata
Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering spring–early winter.
Habitat Saline saltgrass-greasewood-rabbitbrush communities, and other pans or palustrine or lacustrine habitats Saline waste places, along roads and sidewalks, in marshes, in various plant communities
Elevation 400-2700 m (1300-8900 ft) 10-1000 m (0-3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 354. FNA vol. 4, p. 343.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Truncatae Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Atriplex > sect. Semibaccata
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. semibaccata, A. serenana, A. spinifera, A. suberecta, A. suckleyi, A. tatarica, A. torreyi, 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. serenana, A. spinifera, A. suberecta, A. suckleyi, A. tatarica, A. torreyi, A. truncata, A. tularensis, A. watsonii, A. wolfii, A. wrightii
Synonyms Obione truncata, A. subdecumbens, A. truncata var. stricta A. flagellaris
Name authority (Torrey ex S. Watson) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 398. (1873) R. Brown: Prodr., 406. (1810)
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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