Atriplex torreyi
Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 9: 119. 1874.
Shrubs, dioecious, forming broad clumps, mostly (8–)1.2–20(–30) dm; branchlets striately and often sharply angled, glabrous or sparingly puberulent, often becoming bluntly spiny. Leaves persistent, alternate; petiole 1–4 mm; blade grayish or greenish, ovate to deltate, rhombic, oval, or lanceolate, typically subhastate, (5–)12–32 × 4–16(–20) mm, base truncate to obtuse, margin entire (rarely toothed), apex obtuse and apiculate. Staminate flowers yellow, in clusters 1 mm wide, borne in panicles mainly 10–30 cm. Pistillate flowers in once-branched panicles. Fruiting bracteoles sessile, orbiculate, greatly compressed, 1.3–4 mm, about as wide, margin crenate, apex rounded. Seeds brown, 1–1.9 mm wide.
Distribution
Ariz., Calif., Nev., Utah
Discussion
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Selected References
None.
Key
| 1 | Fruiting bracteoles mainly 1.3-3.8 × 2-4.6 mm, orbiculate to subreniform in outline; petiole 2-4 mm; rather broad distribution, but not of Cochise County, Arizona | Atriplex torreyi var. torreyi |
| 1 | Fruiting bracteoles mainly 3-4 × 5-6 mm, subreniform; petiole 1-2 mm; Cochise County, Arizona | Atriplex torreyi var. griffithsii |