Kingdom Plantae Family Amaranthaceae Scientific name Atriplex vesicaria Rank Species | Order Caryophyllales Genus Atriplex Higher classification Saltbush | |
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Similar Saltbush, Maireana, Atriplex lindleyi, Atriplex nummularia, Atriplex semibaccata | ||
Atriplex vesicaria, commonly known as bladder saltbush, is a species of saltbush endemic to Australia.
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Description
It grows as an erect or sprawling shrub up to a metre high. Leaves are oval in shape, five to 25 millimetres long, and 3 to 15 millimetres wide.
Taxonomy
The species was first published by George Bentham in 1870, based on a name selected by Robert Heward. The species' only synonym is Pachypharynx neglecta, published by Paul Aellen in 1938.
It is a highly variable species. The Flora of Australia treatment of this species recognises eight subspecies, namely A. vesicaria subsp. vesicaria, A. vesicaria subsp. appendiculata, A. vesicaria subsp. variabilis, A. vesicaria subsp. calcicola, A. vesicaria subsp. minor, A. vesicaria subsp. incompta, A. vesicaria subsp. macrocystidia and A. vesicaria subsp. sphaerocarpa. Not all of these are accepted in South Australia, where the subspecies tend to intergrade.
Distribution and habitat
It occurs in arid and semi-arid areas across southern Australia, growing in coastal dunes, salt pans, salt lakes, sandy plains and limestone ridges.
