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spiny saltbush
Atriplex spinifera
Atriplex spinifera is a species of saltbush, known by the common names spiny saltbush and spinescale saltbush.
It is endemic to California, where it grows in dry habitat with saline soils, such as salt flats. Its distribution includes the Mojave Desert, the southern Transverse Ranges, and the Central Valley, and surrounding mountain ranges. It is a halophyte.
From the article Atriplex spinifera on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Atriplex spinifera is a grayish or whitish brambly shrub with erect branching stems growing to a maximum height near 2 meters. The tangled branches are stiff and tipped with spiny points. The leaves are oval in shape and less than 3 centimeters in length. The shrub is dioecious, with male and female individuals. The male flowers are small clusters in the leaf axils. The female flowers are solitary or borne in small clusters, and are enclosed in scaly bracts which become spherical as the fruit grows within.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Atriplex spinifera in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 58122.