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Shadscale - Atriplex confertifolia
Native Species
Global Rank:
G5
State Rank:
S5
C-value:
4
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
External Links
General Description
Dioecious shrubs 40–80 cm tall with scurfy foliage. Stems rigid, spiny, intricately branched. Leaf blades ovate to orbiculate, 5–20 mm long with entire margins. Inflorescence axillary glomerules or dense spike-like panicles. Male flowers 4- to 5-parted. Female flowers lacking a calyx; pistillate bracts united <1/2-way. Mature pistillate bracts ovate to elliptic, 5–13 mm long with entire margins above (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Widely distributed across eastern two-thirds of MT; OR to ND south to CA, AZ, and TX (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 225
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Fine-textured, saline soils of stream terraces, badlands; often with sagebrush or greasewood; plains, valleys (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
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Anderson, N.L. 1951. Field studies on the biology of range grasshoppers of southeastern Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, Montana: Montana State University. 96 p.- Brotherson, J. D., L. L. Rasmussen, and R. D. Black. 1986. Comparative habitat and community relationships of Atriplex confertifolia and Sarcobatus vermiculatus in central Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 46(2):348-357.
- Egan, J.L. 1957. Some relationships between mule deer and alfalfa production in Powder River County, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 34 p.
- Harvey, S.J. 1990. Responses of steppe plants to gradients of water soil texture and disturbance in Montana, U.S.A. Ph.D. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 34 p.
- Johnson, J.R. 1966. The effects of some environmental influences on big sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata Nutt., reinvasion. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 100 pp.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
- Plantenberg, P.L. 1983. Factors affecting vegetation development on mined land at Colstrip, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 121 p.
- Quire, R.L. 2013. The sagebrush steppe of Montana and southeastern Idaho shows evidence of high native plant diversity, stability, and resistance to the detrimental effects of nonnative plant species. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 124 p.
- Seipel, T.F. 2006. Plant species diversity in the sagebrush steppe of Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 87 p.
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