Species: Atriplex gardneri (Moquin-Tandon) D. Dietrich var. aptera (A. Nelson) S. L. Welsh & Crompton

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Atriplex gardneri (Moquin-Tandon) D. Dietrich var. aptera (A. Nelson) S. L. Welsh & Crompton

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Chenopodiaceae

Genus:

Atriplex

Species Synonyms:

Atriplex canescens ssp. aptera (A. Nels.) Hall & Clements
Atriplex canescens var. aptera (A. Nels. C.L. Hitchc.

Common Names:

wingscale
moundscale
four-wing saltbush
shadcale

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

southern Alberta – southern Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan:

southern Saskatchewan; Maple Creek, Lower Frenchman River Valley, Big Muddy Valley

Ecoregion:

Mixed Grassland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

barren clay flats and shortgrass prairie

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Endangered

Nature Conservancy Status:

G4G5 N2 S1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Atriplex gardneri var. aptera is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is regionally restricted in the province. The populations vary in size and may be susceptible to threats inferred by occurrences in populated areas or fragile habitats.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

* kranz-type venation: appears as a dark green net pattern when leaf surface is lightly scraped with a sharp blade under 10X magnification

Height:

10 – 60 cm

Roots:

taproot thick, woody

Stems:

shrub, woody throughout, branched, spreading, thick

Leaves:

alternate, sessile or short-stalked, deciduous, 1 – 5 cm long, > 3 times as long as wide, inversely lance-shaped to oblong to spoon-shaped, 1 prominent vein from base, kranz-type venation*, grey, covered in small, bran-like scales, margin smooth

Inflorescence:

male and female flowers on separate plants; female flower bracts 2, small, 4 – 6 mm long, prominently winged, wings wavy or toothed; male flowers in dense clusters, without small bracts

Flowers:

female flowers without sepals; male flowers with 5-lobed sepals, stamens 5

Fruits:

seeds 2 mm long, 2.5 m wide, brown; bracts prominently 4-winged lengthwise

ATRIPLEX KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

* kranz-type venation: appears as a dark green net pattern when leaf surface is lightly scraped with a sharp blade under 10X magnification

1 Plants perennial, woody at least in part; leaves with kranz-type venation	2
1 Plants annual, herbaceous throughout; leaves with kranz-type or other venation	3

2 Plants woody at base; fruiting bracteoles not winged lengthwise	A. gardneri
2 Plants woody throughout; fruiting bracteoles prominently 4-winged lengthwise	A. gardneri var. aptera

3 All leaves sessile	4
3 At least some leaves petiolate	6

4 At least some parts of plant usually farinose, scurfy, or otherwise pubescent; leaf base cuneate, truncate or cordate; pistillate flowers in glomerules in terminal and axillary spikes	A. truncata
4 Plants glabrous or nearly so; leaves tapering to base; pistillate flowers solitary or clustered in leaf axils	5

5 Leaves and stems green and glabrous	A. dioica
5 Leaves glaucous, sparingly farinose when young; stems reddish	A. suckleyi

6 Plants with kranz-type* venation	7
6 Plants with normal dicot venation	9

7 Bracteoles obovate, 4 – 8 mm long, margin dentate, usually bony and hard	A. argentea var. argentea
7 Bracteoles cuneate or oblong, 2 – 3.5 mm long, not dentate-margined or hard and bony	8

8 Leaves subsessile, not conspicuously nerved; bracteoles cuneate, 2 – 3 mm long	A. truncata
8 Leaves with slender petioles, conspicuously 3-nerved, bracteoles oblong, 3 – 4 mm long	A. powellii

9 Herbage green; bracteoles orbicular, entire	A. hortensis
9 Herbage scurfy or mealy; bracteoles not orbicular, toothed	10

10 Leaves hastate; seeds circular	A. prostrata
10 Leaves ovate to lanceolate or linear; seeds elliptic	A. patula