TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual to tree, sometimes monoecious or dioecious, glandular or with bead-like hairs that collapse with age, becoming scaly or powdery
Stem often fleshy
Leaves generally alternate, entire to lobed; veins generally pinnate
Inflorescence: raceme, spike, catkin-like, or spheric cluster, or flower 1; bracts 0few
Flower: sepals 15, often 0 in pistillate flowers, free or fused, generally persistent in fruit; petals 0; stamens 05; ovary generally superior, chamber 1, ovule 1, styles 13
Fruit: generally utricle
Seed 1, vertical (fruit compressed side-to-side) or horizontal (fruit compressed top-to-bottom)
Genera in family: 100 genera, 1300 species: worldwide, especially deserts, saline or alkaline soils; some cultivated for food (Beta , beets, chard; Chenopodium , quinoa)
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated in expanded Amaranthaceae
Annual to subshrub
Stem simple to much-branched
Leaves generally reduced upward, thread-like to subcylindric, generally becoming thick, ridged, spine-tipped
Inflorescence axillary; bracts 12; flowers generally 1 per axil
Flower bisexual; sepals 45, in fruit thickened, persistent, generally tubercled to winged; stamens generally 5, exserted, style branches generally 2, exserted
Fruit spheric to obovoid; top ± depressed
Seed generally horizontal
Species in genus: ± 100 species: ± worldwide
Etymology: (Latin: salty, from habitats)
Introduced |
Annual 1545 cm, slender to rounded, fleshy, generally glabrous
Leaf 655 mm, narrowly oblong; base wing-margined; tip rigid, ± acute; margin becoming ± white-translucent
Inflorescence: bract lanceolate to ovate; base wing-margined, tip rigid, ± acute, margin white-translucent
Flower: calyx 3.55 mm, fleshy, outer sepals with wings < 1.5 mm, inner short-tubercled
Ecology: Mudflats, open areas in salt marshes
Elevation: < 50 m.
Bioregional distribution: n Central Coast (San Francisco Bay)
Distribution outside California: native to s Europe