Atriplex pacifica
Encyclopedia
Atriplex pacifica is a species of saltbush
known by the common names Davidson's saltbush, South Coast saltbush, and Pacific orach.
It is native to the coastline of Southern California
, including the Channel Islands
, and Baja California
, where it grows in saline habitat on the immediate coastline, such as beach bluffs. It is an uncommon plant, chiefly because much of its native habitat has been drastically altered.
This is a mat-forming annual herb producing scaly, reddish green, prostrate stems 10 to 30 centimeters long. The leaves are less than 2 centimeters long, usually oval in shape, with gray-green scaly undersides. Male flowers are borne in terminal spike inflorescence
s that emerge from the distal end of the branches, while female flower clusters appear proximally on the branches.
Atriplex
Atriplex is a plant genus of 100-200 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache . The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments...
known by the common names Davidson's saltbush, South Coast saltbush, and Pacific orach.
It is native to the coastline of Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, including the Channel Islands
Channel Islands of California
The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America...
, and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, where it grows in saline habitat on the immediate coastline, such as beach bluffs. It is an uncommon plant, chiefly because much of its native habitat has been drastically altered.
This is a mat-forming annual herb producing scaly, reddish green, prostrate stems 10 to 30 centimeters long. The leaves are less than 2 centimeters long, usually oval in shape, with gray-green scaly undersides. Male flowers are borne in terminal spike inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s that emerge from the distal end of the branches, while female flower clusters appear proximally on the branches.
See also
- California coastal sage and chaparralCalifornia coastal sage and chaparral ecoregionThe California coastal sage and chaparral, a sub-ecoregion of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, is found in southwestern California and northwestern Baja California in Mexico.-Location:...
- (subecoregion) - Coastal sage scrubCoastal sage scrubCoastal sage scrub is a low scrubland plant community found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of coastal California and northern Baja California. It is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of the...
- (plant association)