Atriplex serenana
Encyclopedia
Atriplex serenana is a species of saltbush
known by the common names bractscale and stinking orach. It is native to California
and Baja California
, where it grows in saline and alkaline soils such as those on alkali flats and beach bluffs.
This is a mat-forming annual herb producing scaly stems up to a meter long. The toothed leaves are 1 to 4 centimeters long. The flowers are generally borne in hard clusters along the stem and there is sometimes a spikelike inflorescence
of male flowers at the end of the stem.
There are two varieties of this species.
Atriplex
Atriplex is a plant genus of 100-200 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache . The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments...
known by the common names bractscale and stinking orach. It is native to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, where it grows in saline and alkaline soils such as those on alkali flats and beach bluffs.
This is a mat-forming annual herb producing scaly stems up to a meter long. The toothed leaves are 1 to 4 centimeters long. The flowers are generally borne in hard clusters along the stem and there is sometimes a spikelike inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
of male flowers at the end of the stem.
There are two varieties of this species.
- The rarer of the two, Davidson's saltscale (var. davidsonii), is limited to the coastline of southern California and Baja California.