''Extriplex californica'' is a plant species known by the common name California saltbush or California orache. Formerly, it was included in genus '' Atriplex''. It is native to coastal

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, where it grows in areas with

saline soils Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by t ...

, such as beaches and

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

es.

Description

''Extriplex californica'' is a perennial herb growing from a fleshy

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a Plant stem, stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, " ...

and

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

. Many stems spread to a maximum width of about 80 centimeters (32 in.) and 30 centimeters (12 in.) in height. The scaly gray-green leaves are lance-shaped to oval and less than 3 centimeters (1 in.) long. The plant may be monoecious or dioecious, with some plants having both male and female flower types, and others having just one. Both types of

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. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

are rough clusters of tiny flowers.

Systematics

The first publication of this taxon was in 1849 by

Alfred Moquin-Tandon Christian Horace Benedict Alfred Moquin-Tandon (7 May 1804 – 15 April 1863) was a French naturalist and doctor. Moquin-Tandon was professor of zoology at Marseille from 1829 until 1833, when he was appointed professor of botany and director of ...

(in: De Candolle: ''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis'' 13(2): 98) as ''Atriplex californica'' Moq.First publication scanned at ''Biodiversity Heritage Library''
/ref> In 2010, after

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

research,

Elizabeth H. Zacharias Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...

classified it in a new genus ''

Extriplex ''Extriplex'' is a plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It has been described in 2010 and comprises two species, that were formerly included in genus ''Atriplex''. They are restricted to the California Flori ...

'', as ''Extriplex californica'' (Moq.) E.H.Zacharias.Elizabeth H. Zacharias, Bruce G. Baldwin (2010): ''A Molecular Phylogeny of North American Atripliceae (Chenopodiaceae), with Implications for Floral and Photosynthetic Pathway Evolution''. In: ''Systematic Botany'' 35(4), p.839-857. ''Extriplex californica'' belongs to the tribe

Atripliceae Atripliceae are a tribe of the subfamily Chenopodioideae belonging to the plant family Amaranthaceae. ''Atriplex'' is the largest genus of the tribe. Species of Atripiceae are ecologically important in steppe and semi-desert climates. Distribu ...

in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus '' Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making i ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment — ''Atriplex californica''USDA Plants Profile for ''Atriplex californica''Flora of North America: Atriplex californica

Tropicos.org: ''Extriplex californica''
*
''Atriplex californica'' — UC Photo gallery
Chenopodioideae Halophytes Salt marsh plants Flora of Baja California Flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Plants described in 1849 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Amaranthaceae-stub