Flora of North America species comparison

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Atriplex watsonii

Watson's orach, Watson's saltbush
Habit Herbs, dioecious, prostrate or decumbent, 2–10 dm.
Stems

forming tangled mats 1–3 m across, woody at base, white scurfy.
Leaves

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.
Staminate flowers

in large glomerules in naked, interrupted terminal spikes;

calyx 5-cleft.
Pistillate flowers

in small, axillary clusters.
Seeds

light brown, 1–1.5 mm.
Fruiting

bracteoles sessile or short stipitate, ovate to rhombic, united to beyond middle, 4–8 mm, margin entire to erose, faces plane.

Atriplex watsonii
Phenology Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Coastal and insular bluffs, beaches, strands, salt marshes, sage scrub, with saltgrass and other salt-tolerant species
Elevation 0-100 m (0-300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 367.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Atriplex > subg. Obione > sect. Obione > subsect. Californicae
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. truncata, A. tularensis, A. wolfii, A. wrightii
Synonyms A. decumbens
Name authority A. Nelson ex Abrams: Fl. Los Angeles, 128. (1904)
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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