| 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 0–few
Flower: sepals 1–5, often 0 in pistillate flowers, free or fused, generally persistent in fruit; petals 0; stamens 0–5; ovary generally superior, chamber 1, ovule 1, styles 1–3
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, generally erect, generally short-hairy
Leaves alternate or opposite, linear to lanceolate, flat to cylindric, fleshy or not
Inflorescence: spike or clusters; bracts leaf-like; flowers 1–few per axil
Flower generally bisexual; calyx lobes 5, incurved, keeled and tubercled to winged in fruit; stamens 5; stigmas 2–3
Fruit ± compressed-spheric
Seed horizontal
Species in genus: ± 20 species: w North America, Eurasia
Etymology: (Wilhelm D. Koch, German physician & botanist, 1771–1849)
| Native |
Subshrub 8–40 cm
Stems many from base, generally simple, ascending to erect, generally finely white-tomentose, sometimes becoming glabrous
Leaf 5–20 mm, 1–2 mm wide, generally overlapping, ± cylindric, ± fleshy, glabrous to sparsely silky-hairy; vein obscure or 1
Inflorescence: flowers 1–3 per axil
Flower: calyx lobes generally white-tomentose, wings in fruit < 2 mm, < 4 mm wide
Ecology: Alkaline soils, flats, dry lake margins
Elevation: 600–2100 m.
Bioregional distribution: Great Basin Floristic Province, Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: to Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico
Flowering time: May–Aug