bio.wikisort.org - Plant

Atriplex elegans is a species of saltbush known by the common name wheelscale saltbush, Mecca orach,[5]^: 270 or wheelscale.[5]^: 270 It is native to the Southwestern United States, and northern Mexico, where it grows in areas of saline or alkaline soils, such as alkali flats and desert dry lakebeds.

Atriplex elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Amaranthaceae
Genus:	Atriplex
Species:	A. elegans
Binomial name
Atriplex elegans (Moq.) D.Dietr.[1]
Subspecies
Atriplex elegans var. coronata (S. Watson) M.E. Jones, 1908[2] Atriplex elegans subsp. elegans Atriplex elegans var. elegans Atriplex elegans subsp. fasciculata (S. Watson) H.M. Hall & Clem., 1923[3] Atriplex elegans var. fasciculata (S. Watson) M.E. Jones, 1908[2] Atriplex elegans subsp. thornberi (M.E. Jones) W.L. Wagner, 1978[4] Atriplex elegans var. thornberi M.E. Jones, 1908[2] Atriplex elegans subsp. typica H.M. Hall & Clem., 1923[3]
Synonyms
Obione elegans Moq.

Description

This is an annual herb with a scaly branching stem which spreads somewhat upright to heights between 10 and 50 centimeters. The crusty whitish leaves are narrowly oval in shape, sometimes toothed along the edges, and less than 3 centimeters long. The inflorescences bear separate male and female flowers which are in small, hard clusters.

References

External links

• Jepson Manual Treatment
• USDA Plants Profile
• Flora of North America
• Photo gallery: var. fasciculata

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