Atriplex rosea (Tumbling Orache) - photos and description
Male flowers in above photo.
Male flowers in above photo.
Bracteoles are rhombic (diamond-shaped).
Leaf top side in above photo.
Leaf under side in above photo.
General: Annuals with an erect or spreading growth habit. Plants are much branched. Foliage is scurfy (covered with small, bran-like scales), foliage silvery-grey on young plants, greyish-green on mature plants.
Flowers: Flowers greenish, single-sexed, in axillary and terminal glomerules. We measured a staminate flower at 2 mm diameter. A pair of bracteoles enclose the ovary, bracteoles rhombic, dentate, and have a few small tubercles (small tuber-like swelling on the surface). We measured a bracteole at 5 mm long by 4 mm wide.
Leaves: Alternate, ovate to rhombic, dentate-sinuate (sinuate = with a strongly wavy margin), leaf highlighted in photo above was 58 mm long by 30 mm wide. Leaf surfaces scurfy.
Height: Height listed in Flora of Alberta to 120 cm, we measured plants to 50 cm tall.
Habitat: Roadsides and waste ground.
Abundance: Listed as uncommon in Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Saskatchewan.
Origin: Introduced.
How to identify this species of Atriplex: Silvery foliage, annual, leaves toothed (Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants).
When and where photographed: Photos taken August 5th on waste ground at the University of Regina, in our home in Regina, SK.