Axyris sphaerosperma Fisch. & C.A.Mey. in Fischer, Meyer & Ave-Lallemant, Ind. Sem. Hort. Petrop. 6: 46 (1839)

Sukhorukov, Alexander P., Liu, Pei-Liang & Kushunina, Maria, 2019, Taxonomic revision of Chenopodiaceae in Himalaya and Tibet, PhytoKeys 116, pp. 1-141 : 75

3. Axyris sphaerosperma Fisch. & C.A.Mey. in Fischer, Meyer & Ave-Lallemant, Ind. Sem. Hort. Petrop. 6: 46 (1839)

Lectotype

(designated by Sukhorukov 2005): [RUSSIA, Altai] "Lecti in regione orientali fl. altaicae Tschuja" [Chuya river valley in Altai], [year] 1839, [anonym s.n.] (LE!).

Description.

Annual up to 40 cm, erect; stem with stellate hairs having a large central ray of 0.7-2.5(3.0) mm long, such hairs especially abundant on stems and leaf petioles. Leaves short-petiolate or subsessile, up to 5 cm, oblong. Male inflorescence up to 2.0 cm long. Perianth of the female flowers with sparse, but large simple hairs. Fruits of two types: subglobose, black, 1.4-1.6 mm with hardly noticeable or indistinct ear-like appendices; the second type ± compressed, ovoid, blackish, 1.6-2.0 mm, also with hardly noticeable or indistinct ear-like appendices.

Habitat.

Stony places, alpine vegetation, sometimes ruderal sites at elevations of 3000-4000 m a.s.l.

Phenology.

Flowering: July-September; fruiting: September-October.

Distribution.

See Fig. 30 .

Specimens examined.

INDIA: Jammu & Kashmir: [Ladakh] Purig [Kargil], Jul 1933, W. Koelz (H1038357). The identification of this specimen comprising only young plants is based on the pubescence details (for more, see Sukhorukov 2011).

General distribution.

Central Asia, Siberia and Himalaya. The southernmost border of the range is in N Himalaya.

Figures

Figure 30. Distribution map of Axyris mira (circles) and A. sphaerosperma (star).