Fruiting bracts that enclose the female flowers are 3 to 6 mm long, 2.5 to 5.0 mm 

 wide, and are sessile. Their surfaces range from smooth and free of tubercles to 

 densely tuberculate. The apex of the bracts ends in an oval terminal tooth subtended 

 by two slightly smaller lateral teeth (fig. 7). 



Gardner saltbush flowers from mid-May to the first of July and intermittently 

 following heavy rains. 



The fruit ripens about 7 weeks after flowering. Cleaned utricles average 111,450 

 per pound (246/g) for this species (Plummer and others 1968) . 



Gardner saltbush was considered as a subspecies of Nuttall saltbush [A, nuttallii) 

 by Hall and Clements (1923) in their classic monograph. They recognized six subspecies 

 of Nuttall saltbush: typica {nuttallii), tridentata , gavdneri, cuneata, buxi folia, and 

 falcata. They contended that "the first three subspecies form a very close group, and 

 since they occupy the same region, it is questionable if all should not be treated as 

 one.'' More recently, Hanson (1962, 1973) elevated the subspecies to specific rank. The 

 taxonomy of this group remains somewhat confused. The species tvidentata and gardnevi 

 are similar morphologically, but the former is usually hexaploid (2n = 54) and the latter 

 tetraploid (2n = 36) (Bassett and Crompton 1971; H. C. Stutz and C. L. Pope, personal 

 communication) . Atriplex tvidentata has been described as a subspecies of A. gavdneri 

 (Holmgren and Reveal 1966). We classify questionable collection as A. gavdnevi. 



I 



Nuttall saltbush (-4. nuttallii) , which is widespread in Wyoming, Montana, and 

 Idaho, but only sparsely present in Utah, resembles Gardner saltbush in most character- 

 istics. However, it root sprouts less vigorously than Gardner saltbush and it has the 

 ability to aggressively stem layer (Nord and others 1969) . 



Eybvidization: Fifty percent of the branches of pistillate fourwing saltbushes 

 treated with Gardner saltbush pollen produced viable seed. This percentage v\ras higher 

 than that for any other treatment except A. canescens crossed with A. canescens 

 where four out of five branches (80 percent) produced viable seed (table 1). Natural 

 hybridization between Gardner saltbush and A. confevtifolia also occurs. Gardner salt- 

 bush is tetraploid (2n = 36) (H. C. Stutz and C. L. Pope, personal communication). 



distvibution and habitat: Gardner saltbush is much more restricted in its habitat 

 than fourwing saltbush and shadscale. It is most abundant on nearly bare badland clay 

 soils, which contain to 5,500 p/m soluble salts (fig. 27) (Hanson 1962). It occurs in 

 Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and southern Idaho. 



Use: Gardner saltbush is important as cover on arid sites and as browse for big 

 game and livestock. It is being tested with an assortment of fire resistant shrubs for 

 use in reducing fire hazard in southern California. Such shrubs are being used to re- 

 place the highly flammable, high-volume chaparral plants presently there (Nord and 

 others 1969) . 



Atriplex obovata (broadscale saltbush) 



Broadscale saltbush is a subshrub to 8 dm in height with a woody, spreading base 

 that produces numerous ascending to erect branches (fig. 28) . The silvery, scurfy, 

 deciduous leaves are elliptical to obovate, 1 to 3.5 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide, with a 

 short petiole. 



This species has yellow staminate flowers borne in small glomerules and arranged 

 500 to 5,000 to a panicle. The fruiting bracts are broadly cuneate or obovate, 4 to 

 5 mm long, 5 to 9 mm broad, with smooth or sometimes slightly tubercled surfaces (fig. 7). 



21 



