ATRIPLEX PROSTRATA

Family:- AMARANTHACEAE/A. prostrata group

Common Name:- Spear-leaved orache

Synonyms:- Atriplex hastata var. prostrata, Atriplex latifolia subsp. prostrata,

Atriplex latifolia var. prostrata, Atriplex patula var. prostrata.

Meaning:- Atriplex (L) A name used by the Roman naturalist and philosopher

Pliny, from the ancient Greek meaning black and intertwined.

Prostrata (L) Lying flat, prostrate.

General description:- Prostrate-spreading to erect, much-branched annual.

Stems:-

a) Up to 100 cm.

b) angular or ridged, with long internodes.

Leaves:-

a) Opposite or alternate.

1) Lower:

a) 3-10 cm.

b) triangular, truncate ± at the base greyish-green or with a waxy bloom

(glaucous), hairless (glabrous) or thinly covered with a mealy-like powder

(farinose).

2) Upper:

a) oblong to narrowly lanceolate, entire.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence:

a) leafy at least below.

2) Bracteoles:

a) 2-6 mm.

b) triangular to triangular-ovate, dentate, sometimes wedge-shaped (cuneate) at

the base.

Fruit:-

1) Seed:

a) 2 mm. diam.

b) vertical.

c) lens-shaped (lenticular).

d) dark brown to black, shiny.

Key features:-

1) Bracteoles sessile, thin, not inflated.

2) Plant usually erect.

Habitat:- Saline and sub-saline soils by the sea, occasionally on wasteground,

roadsides and in vineyards etc. up to 100(-500) m.

Distribution:- Throughout Greece. Europe, Mediterranean region and SW. Asia.

Not too common on Crete, mainly in the east.

Flowering time:- July-Nov.

Photos by:- Marinos Gogolos