19.
Atriplex nummularia
Lindley in T. L. Mitchell, J. Exped. Trop. Australia. 64. 1848.
Old man saltbush
Atriplex johnstonii
C. B. Wolf
Shrubs
, semidioecious, mainly (15-)20-30 dm, with striated twigs.
Leaves
mostly alternate, short petiolate; blade broadly ovate, rhombic to suborbiculate, (15-)30-65 mm, about as wide, thick, base cuneate, margin sinuate-dentate, apex obtuse to rounded.
Staminate flowers
crowded in glomerules on short or elongate, interrupted spikes in large paniculate clusters to 20 cm.
Pistillate flowers
in dense, compound panicles, or axillary, or along staminate panicle branches.
Fruiting bracteoles
sessile, reticulately veined, rhombic to orbiculate, 5-12(-15) × 5-11 mm, papery all over or thick and corky, margin subentire to coarsely few-toothed.
Seeds
brown, 2 mm wide.
Flowering summer-fall. Sandy coastal bluffs, disturbed sites such as roadsides; 0-2300 m; introduced; Ariz., Calif.; Mexico; Australia.
Atriplex nummularia
is a rather coarse, broad-leaved, vigorous shrub, which has spread from some early introduction from Australia, possibly for use in stabilizing land.
