Atriplex colerei Maire
Eng.: Orache. Spa.: Armuelle. Fre.: Arroche. Ara.: Guettaf, ktaf, gatf.
Perennial subshrub, dioecious, sometimes monoecious, highly branched from the base, creeping stems or slightly rising, 30-80 cm or even higher, sometimes exceeding 1 m in height when it rests on other plants. Branches whitish-yellow. Young branches ± silvery due to the presence of numerous subglobose papillae. Leaves (1-4 × 0.7-3.5 cm) opposite, lower leaves deltoid-ovate or hastate and mucronate, upper leaves ± ovate, obtuse or acute, with margin entire or coarsely dentate, not too fleshy, green on the upper side and greenish-whitish on the underside, with short petioles [1-4(6) mm] and often with a group of smaller leaflets at its base. Inflorescences in greenish or purplish paniculiform cymes. Flower yellow. Fruit bracteoles almost completely fused, coriaceous and hardened at the base, herbaceous-membranous at the apex. Shape of the bracteoles is an inverted triangle, tripartite at the apex, with serrated margins and with the dorsal side tuberculate.
Flowering:
April to August.
Fruiting:
May to September.
Habitat:
Loamy, moist and ± salty soils along the coast and inland areas.
Distribution:
Endemic to SW Morocco. Alluvial zones of the last stretches and mouths of the Sus and Massa rivers. Also cited in the Hauz region, between Marrakech and the High Atlas.
Conservation status:
It is a rare species and of a restricted distribution. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.