Atriplex acanthocarpa var. acanthocarpa

Leaves: petioles mainly 5-12 mm; blade flat or folded, ovate to rhombic-ovate, elliptic, or spatulate, mainly 15-40(-50) ´ 7-20 mm, base narrowly cuneate, margin irregularly repand-dentate, sinuate-dentate, undulate-crisped, with sinuses rounded, or less commonly entire. Fruiting bracteoles ascending to erect when mature, mainly 9-15 mm thick, on stipes mainly 3-8 mm when mature, body globose, 3.5-5 mm thick, covered with numerous, radiating, cylindric, conic, or flattened, distally toothed or branched processes mainly 2.5-5 mm.

Alkaline soils, used for windbreaks, roadside cover and ornamentals, mainly occurring along the drainages of the Gila and Rio Grande rivers; 100-800 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila).