''Stutzia'' is a plant genus in the subfamily

Chenopodioideae The Chenopodioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae in the APG III system, which is largely based on molecular phylogeny, but were included – together with other subfamilies – in the family Chenopodiaceae, or goose ...

of the family

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, maki ...

. It was described in 2010, replacing the illegitimate name ''Endolepis''. It comprises two species, that have also been included in the genus ''

Atriplex ''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''. The genus is quite variable and ...

''. ''Stutzia'' species occur in western North America. They are annual plants up to 50 cm tall and broad, growing upright or spreading. The parts of young plants are rarely furfuraceous or farinose, older ones glabrescent. The stem branches almost from the base with ascending or spreading branches, older ones with white bark.

Description

The species of ''Stutzia'' are

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

herbs that are 3–50 cm high and broad, growing erect or spreading. Young plant parts are sparsely furfuraceous or farinose, older ones glabrescent. The stems are branched nearly from base with ascending or spreading branches, the older ones with whitish bark. The numerous green

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are alternate, petiolated or not. Their

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

leaf blades are 7–50 long and 2–30 mm wide, triangular-hastate, broadly ovate, lanceolate-ovate, lanceolate, or elliptic, with entire margins. The leaf anatomy is of the "normal" (''non-Kranz'') type of C3-plants. The plants are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

. The inflorescences form terminal, dense or interrupted spikes of glomerulate male and often female flowers, and female flowers standing to 1–6 in the axils of midstem leaves. Male flowers (without bracteoles) consist of 5 triangular to subulate

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...

lobes, ca. 1–2 mm long, united in the lower half to 3/4, smooth or with a fleshy crest, and 5 exserting

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s inserting on a disc. Female flowers are sitting within 2 opposite

bracteole In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

s, they consist of a hyaline perianth of 1–5 distinct, entire or lobed

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, and an ovary with 2 filiform, slightly exserted stigmas. In fruit, the bracteoles enclosing the fruit become accrescent, 2–20 × 1–10 mm, connate at least to the middle or to the summit. Their shape can be either ovate and entire or ovate-cordate to lanceolate, and laterally lobed at base, with acute to acuminate apices. Their surface is scurfy, usually without tubercles. The ovate, laterally compressed to subglobose fruit (utricle) greatly surpassing the perianth is not spongy, and does not fall at maturity. The membranous

pericarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

adheres to the seed. The vertically orientated seed with rostellate apex has a brown to dark reddish-brown, thin, crustaceous seed coat. The subannular, slender embryo surrounds the copious

perisperm In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fema ...

. ''Stutzia'' is flowering from April to July. The

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

numbers are n = 9 (haploid) and 2n = 18 (diploid).

Systematics

The genus ''Stutzia'' has been first described in 2010 by Elizabeth H. Zacharias (In: ''A Molecular Phylogeny of North American Atripliceae (Chenopodiaceae), with Implications for Floral and Photosynthetic Pathway Evolution''. In: ''Systematic Botany'' 35 (4), p. 839-857). It replaced the illegitimate name ''Endolepis'', that had been described in 1860 by

John Torrey John Torrey (August 15, 1796 – March 10, 1873) was an American botany, botanist, chemist, and physician. Throughout much of his career, he was a teacher of chemistry, often at multiple universities, while he also pursued botanical work, focus ...

(not being aware of the earlier fossil ''Endolepis'' Schleid. from 1846). The type species is '' Stutzia dioica''. ''Stutzia'' species were often included in genus ''

''. The genus name ''Stutzia'' was given in honour to the botanist Howard C. Stutz, who had resurrected ''Endolepis'' in 1993. ''Stutzia'' belongs to the tribe Atripliceae in the subfamily

of the family

Species

The genus comprises two species: * '' Stutzia covillei'' (Standl.) E.H.Zacharias - Coville's orachJepson eFlora treatment for ''Stutzia covillei''
. accessed 2.22.2015 (Synonyms ''Atriplex covillei'' (Standl.) J.F.Macbr., ''Endolepis covillei'' Standl.) *'' Stutzia dioica'' (Nutt.) E.H.Zacharias - Suckley's orach (Syn. ''Kochia dioica'' Nutt., ''Salsola dioica'' (Nutt.) Spreng., ''Endolepis dioica'' (Nutt.) Standl., ''Atriplex dioica'' (Nutt.) J.F.Macbr., ''Atriplex suckleyi'' (Torrey) Rydberg, ''Endolepis suckleyi'' Torr., ''Endolepis ovata'' Rydb., ''Atriplex ovata'' (Rydb.) Clem. & E.G.Clem.)

Distribution

The species of ''Stutzia'' are distributed in western North America (

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, and possibly

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

). They grow in dry habitats on alkaline or saline substrates, from 400 to 2,200 m. '' Stutzia dioica'' is more widely distributed, and is a pioneer on alkaline or saline, fine-textured soils in badlands. Sometimes it occurs together with ''

'' species,

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia (plant), Artemisia''. The best-known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrush is native to the western half of North Amer ...

, or grasses. '' Stutzia covillei'' grows on saline soils in saltbush, greasewood, rabbitbrush, warm desert scrub, and salt-grass communities.

References

External links

*
Jepson Herbarium— Jepson eFlora: ''Stutzia''

''Stutzia''
at Tropicos {{Taxonbar, from=Q14179249 Chenopodioideae Flora of California Amaranthaceae genera Flora without expected TNC conservation status