TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
previous taxon |
next taxon
Jepson Interchange (more information) |
|
©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, glabrous to papillate
Stem generally branched at base, prostrate to erect
Leaves ± cylindric, fleshy, abruptly pointed to bristle- or spine-tipped
Inflorescence axillary; flowers densely clustered; bractlets 02
Flower bisexual or pistillate; calyx lobes 5, generally enclosing fruit, tip winged in fruit; stamens 25; stigmas 2
Fruit: wall adherent to seed
Seed vertical or horizontal
Species in genus: 3 species: Eurasia
Etymology: (Greek: salty neighbor, from habitat)
Introduced |
Stems 625 cm, curved, leafy throughout
Leaf 422 mm, 11.5 mm wide, sessile, withered or deciduous in fruit; bristle 12 mm, stiff
Inflorescence: bracts 1.52 mm, ± glaucous; flowers many, throughout stem
Flower: calyx lobes 12 mm, wings 23.5 mm, fan-like, membranous, veiny
Fruit 12 mm
Ecology: Alkaline soils, open flats, scrub
Elevation: 8001800 m.
Bioregional distribution: Cascade Range, Great Basin Floristic Province, Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: to Idaho, Colorado, Nevada; native to Eurasia
Flowering time: Summer
Weedy;TOXIC to livestock from concentrated oxalates .