6. Atriplex rosea L. (red scale, tumbling orach)
Pl. 352 g; Map
1516
Stems 25–100 cm
tall, erect or strongly ascending, the branches ascending or spreading. Leaves
all alternate or the lowermost leaves occasionally opposite or nearly so,
sessile or short-petiolate. Leaf blades 1–7 cm long, less than 3 times as long
as wide and widest toward the base, ovate-triangular to ovate, angled at the
base, rounded to sharply pointed at the tip, sometimes with 1 or 2 pairs of
short, blunt, spreading basal lobes, the margins otherwise irregularly wavy or
more commonly with irregular blunt teeth, moderately mealy and sometimes
appearing silvery gray on both surfaces (sometimes becoming nearly glabrous
with age). Staminate flowers appearing axillary among the uppermost leaves
and/or in short, dense terminal spikes. Pistillate flowers in axillary
clusters, all similar, lacking a perianth. Bracts at fruiting fused to about
the midpoint, 3–6(–10) mm long, rhombic to ovate-triangular in outline,
appearing sessile or narrowed to a short, stalklike base, the free portions of
the margins with several fine teeth, the fused portion becoming hardened and
somewhat bony, the surfaces sometimes with a patch of short, narrow tubercles
or a low crest. Fruits difficult to separate from the bracts. Seeds all similar
in size and color, 2–3 mm long, brown, dull, the tip of the radicle (seedling
root) positioned alongside the remaining body of the seed. 2n=18. July–September.
Introduced,
uncommon, known only from the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas and
Howard County (native of Europe, Asia, Africa; widely introduced in North
America and Australia). Saline seeps and banks of streams; also railroads.
In the western
United States, red scale has been used for animal feed, and in portions of
Europe, it is used to make potash.