AN ILLUSTRATED KEY TO THE AMARANTHACEAE OF ALBERTA Compiled and writen by Lorna Allen & Linda Kershaw April 2019 © Linda J. Kershaw & Lorna Allen This key was compiled using informaton primarily from Moss (1983), Douglas et. al. (1998a [Amaranthaceae], 1998b [Chenopodiaceae]) and the Flora North America Associaton (2008). Taxonomy follows VASCAN (Brouillet, 2015). Please let us know if there are ways in which the key can be improved. The 2015 S-ranks of rare species (S1; S1S2; S2; S2S3; SU, according to ACIMS, 2015) are noted in superscript (S1;S2;SU) afer the species names. For more details go to the ACIMS web site. Similarly, exotc species are followed by a superscript X, XX if noxious and XXX if prohibited noxious (X; XX; XXX) according to the Alberta Weed Control Act (2016). AMARANTHACEAE Amaranth Family [includes Chenopodiaceae] Key to Genera 01a Flowers with spiny, dry, thin and translucent 1a (not green) bracts at the base; tepals dry, thin and translucent; separate ♂ and ♀ fowers on same the plant; annual herbs; fruits thin-walled (utricles), splitting open around the middle 2a (circumscissile) .............Amaranthus 01b Flowers without spiny, dry, thin, translucent bracts; tepals herbaceous or feshy, greenish; fowers various; annual or perennial, herbs or shrubs; fruits various, not splitting open around the middle ..........................02 02a Leaves scale-like, paired (opposite); stems feshy/succulent, with fowers sunk into stem; plants of saline habitats ... Salicornia rubra 3a ................. [Salicornia europaea] 02b Leaves well developed, not scale-like; stems not feshy; plants of various habitats. .03 03a Flower bracts tipped with spine or spine-like bristle; leaves spine-tipped, linear to awl- 5a shaped, usually not feshy; tepals winged from the lower surface ............... Salsola 03b Leaves and fower bracts not spine- or bristle- tipped; tepals winged from the tip or without wings. .04 04a Leaf blades sub-cylindric to linear, usually feshy .............................05 04b Leaf blades fattened, not especially feshy 06 05a Shrubs with spiny/thorny branches; fowers either ♂ or ♀; ♂ fowers in spikes at branch tips; ♀ fowers 1-2 in upper leaf axils, broadly winged in fruit ...Sarcobatus vermiculatus 05b Shrubs, sub-shrubs or herbs, not spiny; fowers tiny, with both ♂ and ♀ parts (rarely ♂ or ♀), 1-5 in leaf axils ............Suaeda 5b 7a 06a Plants densely hairy, with star-shaped hairs 07 06b Plants without star-shaped hairs, often hairless or covered with whitish, mealy powder ....08 07a Sub-shrubs (woody bases) with white to brown star-shaped hairs, some golden brown in age; leaves linear, 2-3 mm wide, ≤4 cm long, with 7b down-rolled edges; plants densely hairy with matted hairs, branches hairless at the base . Krascheninnikovia lanata [Eurotia lanata] 07b Annual herbs with rust-coloured star-shaped hairs (→) and simple whitish hairs; leaves broadly to narrowly lance-shaped, 5-15 mm wide, 5-6 cm long, edges not rolled down; → plants hairy, but side branches largely hairless on the lower hwalf . Axyris amaranthoides X 3 08a ♀ fowers usually without tepals; fowers (at least some) enclosed by 2 fused bracts that enlarge with fruiting; fowers usually ♂ or ♀ (rarely with both sexes). .09 8a 08b All fowers with tepals, not enclosed by fused bracts; fowers with both ♂ and ♀ parts (rarely some only ♀) .......................11 09a Stigmas 4-5; plants lacking scales on stems and leaves, commonly cultivated herb ...... ...................Spinacia oleracea X 09b Stigmas 2; plants with semi-transparent or white-encrusting scales on stems and leaves, rarely cultivated. .10 9a 10a Leaf stalks ≥ the blade length; fower bracts fused below the middle, with a sharp vertical ridge; fruits tipped with 2 teeth; seed coats thin and ± translucent; annual herbs ........... ..................Suckleya suckleyana 10b Leaf stalks < the blade length; fower bracts 10b fused to above the middle, without a sharp vertical ridge; fruits not 2-toothed at the tip; seed coats leathery; perennial or annual, herbs or shrubs ................. Atriplex 10a 11a Tepals winged or armed with slender hooked spines in fruit; leaf blades smooth-edged; weedy annuals .. Bassia [includes Kochia] 11b Tepals rounded or keeled on the lower/outer surface, neither winged nor spiny; weedy or not, annual or perennial ...............12 12a Tepals 0-3; fruits largely exposed, tipped with 2 teeth, usually edged with a distinct wing; stamens 1-3(-5); leaves lance-shaped 11a to thread-like; plants with branched, almost star-shaped hairs or nearly hairless, found in 12a sandy, low elevation sites .... Corispermum 12b Tepals 5; fruits largely concealed by tepals to exposed, not as above; stamens usually 5; plants hairless, sometimes covered with whitish, mealy powder, in various habitats .13 13a Flowers singly set in small clumps, on spike- 13a like branches in loose, branching clusters (panicles); leaves bright green, hairless, egg- shaped to triangular, 3.5-15 x 2-9 cm, with 1-5 coarse triangular teeth per side ........... .............Chenopodiastrum simplex .......[Chenopodium gigantospermum; ................Chenopodium simplex] 13b Flowers in loose or dense condensed head- like clusters; leaves various, usually with mealy powder .......................14 14a Seeds all horizontal (rarely with a few vertical) 14a ........................Chenopodium 14b Seeds all vertical or both horizontal and vertical ............................15 4 15a Seeds all vertical. Blitum ................ [Chenopodium, in part] 15b 15b Seeds both horizontal and vertical .Oxybasis ................ [Chenopodium, in part] 15a AMARANTHUS Amaranth 01a Leaf blades 0.5-3(4) cm long; plants erect or - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - sprawling, usually much branched from base; fowers all in small clusters in leaf axils ...02 01b Leaf blades 4-15 cm long; plants usually erect, not branched at base; fowers in compound or simple spikes at stem tips or in leaf axils . .04 02a ♀ tepals 4-5; stamens 3; seeds ±1.3-1.6 mm wide; plants ascending to sprawling ........ .................Amaranthus blitoides 2a ..............[Amaranthus graecizans] 02b ♀ tepals mostly 3; stamens 1-3; seeds usually <1.0 mm wide; plants erect to sprawling . .03 3a 03a Bracts 2-3 mm long; tepals of ♀ fowers all ± the same size, at least 2 well-developed; plants erect; uncommon but widespread on disturbed ground ....... Amaranthus albus 3b 03b Bracts <2mm long; tepals of ♀ fowers of unequal size usually only 1 well-developed, sometimes with 1-3 but distinctly unequal; plants sprawling; rare sAB grassland species ...........Amaranthus californicus S2S3 04a Upper stems long soft hairy; leaves hairy beneath, at least along veins; tepals clearly longer than the ovary, broadly rounded or 4a shallowly notched at tip, with a green midvein .............. Amaranthus retrofexus X 04b Upper stems hairless to sparsely hairy; leaves generally hairless beneath; tepals shorter than the ovary, ± bristle-tipped and the midvein usually not green, ...Amaranthus powellii X ATRIPLEX Saltbush Note: Leaf shape and mealiness are usually too 4b variable to be useful key characteristics, and descriptions often disagree with the characteristics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - used in keys to distinguish species. The following key relies mainly on Bassett et, al., 1983. 01a Perennial shrubs .....................02 01b Annual herbs. .03 02a Shrubs (10)80-200 cm tall, with woody branches; fruit-bracts 8-25 mm long, on 1-8 mm stalks, irregular in shape, with 4 projecting side wings, smooth or net-veined, without small projections ..........Atriplex canescens 02b Subshrubs (woody at base only), 10-40(50) cm tall; fruit-bracts 3-8 mm long, on 0-5 mm 2a stalks, with 4 deep-lobed wings or with wart- like to fnger-like projections ≤4 mm long or sometimes smooth (without wings or warts) .. ...................... Atriplex gardneri 2b ..[Atriplex nuttallii misapplied; A. aptera; 5 3a 03a Leaves with conspicuous, dark green, netted veins (kranz-type venation), visible at 12x magnifcation on surfaces lightly scraped with a sharp blade; fowers/fruits all similar, all with enclosing bracts .....................04 03b Leaves with normal, dicotyledonous veins; fowers/fruits of 2 types (except A. suckleya 5a and A. glabriuscula), 1 large and 1 small, sometimes with 1 type lacking fruit bracts .07 4a 04a Leaves usually wavy-toothed and lobed, grayish green; stems sprawling or erect; branches ascending to spreading; seed radicle inferior; exotic weeds in gardens and X 6a on disturbed ground ...... Atriplex rosea 04b Leaves commonly smooth-edged, whitish- gray; stems erect; branches ascending; seed radicle superior; native species of alkaline habitats, mainly in the prairies ..........05 05a Fruit-bracts widest above the middle, 4-8 mm long, deeply toothed and usually with large wart-like bumps. Atriplex argentea 05b Fruit-bracts wedge-shaped or oblong, 2-3.5 mm long, usually smooth-edged, edge never toothed (but may have small teeth at tip) . .06 06a Fruit-bracts wedge-shaped, tipped with 3 tiny teeth, the upper surface smooth or with 1-2 small, wart-like bumps; leaves not 6b conspicuously nerved ..Atriplex truncata S1 06b Fruit-bracts oblong, ≈ 2x as long as broad, tipped with a fattened lobe, the upper surface usually with many small wart-like bumps below the lobes; leaves conspicuously 3-nerved ... ....................Atriplex powellii S2 07a Calyx of ♂ fowers cup-shaped, with 2-3 feshy-crested lobes, pink; fruit-bracts 2 x 1.5 mm, inconspicuous,