Atriplex gardneri var. welshii
Great Basin Naturalist 44: 191. 1984.
Common names: Welsh’s saltbush
Endemic
Basionym: Atriplex welshii C. A. Hanson Stud. Syst. Bot. 1: 1. 1962
Subshrubs, dioecious or sparingly monoecious, mostly 1.5–5 × 1–8 dm. Stems prostrate to decumbent. Leaves tardily deciduous, alternate, sessile or subsessile; blade narrowly oblanceolate, 15–50 × 2–6 mm, 5–15 times longer than wide. Staminate flowers yellow, in glomerules 2–3 mm thick, in terminal spikes or panicles 3–11 cm Pistillate flowers in spikes to 25 cm. Fruiting bracteoles sessile or on stipes to 2 mm, body flattened or apparently subglobose, 6–9 × 5–8 mm, united to attenuated terminal tooth, with 2–6 lateral teeth. Seeds 2–2.5 mm wide. 2n = 18.
Phenology: Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat: Mat-atriplex and Castle Valley saltbush communities on Mancos Shale Formation
Elevation: 1200-1300 m
Discussion
This taxon forms occasional hybrids with Atriplex gardneri var. cuneata, with which it occurs.
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa
None.