犁苞滨藜 li bao bin li

Atriplex dimorphostegia var. sagittiformis Aellen.

Herbs annual, 15-30(-45) cm tall. Stem much branched; branches decumbent or obliquely spreading, not furfuraceous or upper part furfuraceous, lustrous sericeous. Leaves subsessile; leaf blade ovate, broadly so, deltoid, or cordate, succulent, 1-4(-5) × 1-3 cm, both surfaces gray-green, but abaxially often densely furfuraceous, base rounded to broadly cuneate, margin entire to shallowly irregularly sinuate-dentate, apex rounded, usually mucronulate. Inflorescences of axillary, usually 3-8-flowered glomerules. Male flowers 4- or 5-merous. Fruiting bracts connate only near base, cordate or suborbicular, furfuraceous, basal central part with prominent appendages, base emarginate, margins sparingly dentate, with green, reticulate veins, apex obtuse or acute; pedicel stout, 2-3 mm, usually thinner at base. Utricle ovoid; pericarp white, membranous, adnate to seed. Seed brown, not lustrous, compressed, ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. and fr. May-Jul.

Deserts, dunes, sandy places, alluvial fans, sometimes in fields. Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; N Africa, SW Asia].

At least two varieties of this very polymorphic species have been recognized in China. Atriplex dimorphostegia var. sagittiformis differs from var. dimorphostegia in having plants usually taller (30–40 cm), leaf blade margin with a pair of lobes near the base, and fruiting bracts triangular-hastate (not cordate or suborbicular) and apically acuminate.