Atriplex australasica

Detailed description

Annual much-branched, grey-green, glaucous to red-green, monoecious (?gynodioecious) shrub up to 1 × 2 m. Main stems quadrangular, widely spreading to sub-erect, woody at base, otherwise firmly fleshy to succulent; deeply ribbed, stout up to 15 mm diameter, grey-green to glaucous at first becoming purple-red to maroon with age. Upper stems similar, though much branched, ribbed and more or less slender. Petioles stout, fleshy up to 20 mm long. Leaves 20–100 × 30–60 mm, grey-green, glaucous to red-green, very fleshy to almost succulent, broadly lanceolate, broadly-deltoid to broadly hastate, lamina of young plants more or less entire, usually with 1–2 deep forward projected lobes near base, these often present on one side, mature leaves entire or deeply though irregularly lobed to almost coarsely dentate, lobes broadly deltoid blunt ended, forward projecting; leaf-base broadly cuneate; apex obtuse, sub-obtuse to acute. Inflorescence leaves similar though smaller. Inflorescence long, spiciform, paniculate more or less arching and pendulous at fruiting. Flowers in dense glomerules, these at first continuous, become disjunct; upper glomerules usually subtended by small bract-like leaves. Male flowers with perianths 0.5–1 mm long; segments green with fine hyaline margin. Female flowers enclosed by bracteoles 1.5–1.8–(2) mm long at anthesis, sessile, rhombic-triangular to triangular hastate, usually entire, sometimes toothed or with protuberances. Fruiting bracteoles 3–4 × 2–5 mm, deltoid, fused near base, equal to subequal, entire or with 1–2 teeth, smooth or with warty protuberances, very fleshy, grey-green to glaucous at first becoming black and much-thickened with age, apices acute. Fruits dimorphic, enclosed within bracteoles, mostly 2.5–4 mm diameter, orbicular, laterally flattened, radicle basal, horizontal; pericarp loose, chartaceous often ruptured at fruit maturation. Testa glossy black, smooth.