Atriplex bunburyana

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

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|image =

|genus = Atriplex

|species = bunburyana

|authority = F.Muell.

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Atriplex bunburyana, commonly known as silver saltbush, is a species of saltbush endemic to Western Australia.

Description

It grows as an erect shrub up to a metre high, with slender branches that are often straight and rigid. Leaves are oval in shape, five to 20 millimetres long, with a linear margin and a blueish colour caused by a thin scaly coating.{{Cite book| author = Wilson, Paul G. | year = 1984 | chapter = Chenopodiaceae | title = Flora of Australia, Volume 4: Phytolaccaceae to Chenopodiaceae | location = Canberra | publisher = Australian Government Publishing Service}}

Taxonomy

It was first published by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1882 under the name Atriplex bunburyanum,{{APNI | name = Atriplex bunburyanum F.Muell. | id = 208788}} but this name was orthographically invalid and has been corrected to Atriplex bunburyana.{{APNI | name = Atriplex bunburyana F.Muell. | id = 57196}} The name refers to the collector of the type specimen, a Miss Bunbury, who collected specimens of this species from the Gascoyne River in 1882.

The species' only synonym is A. paludosa subsp. graciliflora, published by Paul Aellen in 1938.{{APNI | name = Atriplex paludosa subsp. graciliflora Aellen | id = 58530}}

Distribution and habitat

Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs through most of the western half of the state, both near the coast and inland.{{FloraBase | name = Atriplex bunburyana F.Muell. | id = 2451}}

References