Atriplex pacifica is a species of saltbush known by the common names Davidson's saltbush, South Coast saltbush, and Pacific orach. It is native to the coastline of Southern California, including the Channel Islands, and Baja California, where it grows in saline habitat on the immediate coastline, such as beach bluffs. It is an uncommon plant, chiefly because much of its native habitat has been drastically altered. This is a mat-forming annual herb producing scaly, reddish green, prostrate stems 10 to 30 centimeters long. The leaves are less than 2 centimeters long, usually oval in shape, with gray-green scaly undersides. Male flowers are borne in terminal spike inflorescences that emerge from the distal end of the branches, while female flower clusters appear proximally on the branches.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Atriplex pacifica has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens3
Marker genes2
eDNA detections2
Countries1
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★rbcLa★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB · TreeOfSex
The complete instruction manualAtriplex pacifica carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosomes2n = 18 n = 9
Ploidydiploid inferred
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Flores-Olvera, H. & P. Mercado-Ruaro. 1997. Chromosome numbers of species of Atriplex section Obinoe (Chenopodiaceae) and their relation to taxonomy. Cytologia 62: 157–162.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — NOBS, M. A. 1975. Chromosome numbers in Atriplex. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Year Book 74: 762–765.
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy100% within 1 km
≤100 m 34≤1 km 3
37 georeferenced · 16 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor53
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy87% within 1 km
≤100 m 118≤1 km 81≤10 km 27>10 km 3
229 georeferenced · 165 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence394
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions26 of 39 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
San Diego, US
124
Santa Barbara, US
75
Claremont, US
48
San Francisco, US
20
Riverside, US
18
La Paz, MX
10
Pomona Collegelocation not on record
9
Los Angeles, US
7
CASlocation not on record
6
Mexico City, MX
6
ASUlocation not on record
5
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
5
Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record
4
Saint Louis, US
4
Austin, US
4
Ensenada, MX
3
Arizona State University Biocollectionslocation not on record
3
Hermosillo, MX
3
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
3
Irvine, US
2
WTUlocation not on record
2
Mexico City, MX
2
Austin, US
2
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardenslocation not on record
2
Wuzhou, CN
1
Phoenix, US
1
San Diego Natural History Museumlocation not on record
1
San Diego Natural History Museum, Herbariumlocation not on record
1
Catalina Island Conservancylocation not on record
1
San Angelo, US
1
Logan, US
1
Mexico City, MX
1
Calabar, NG
1
New Mexico State Universitylocation not on record
1
Mississippi State, US
1
Flagstaff, US
1
Long Beach, US
1
Bloomington, US
1
US
1
39 institutions · 382 of 394 vouchered records shown · 12 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA2 detections
Where the DNA of Atriplex pacifica was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found2
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 2 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
Vernal Pool vegetation with Psilocarphus bre…
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median16.0 °C 15.8–16.2
Seasonal swing summer↔winter7.90 °C
Max temp (day)18.7 °C 17.6–19.7
Min temp (night)13.7 °C 13.2–14.2
Precipitation4.60 mm/mo 4.40–4.70
Air humidity63.9 % 61.9–66.0
Moisture balance-131 mm/mo -132–-130
Vapour deficit657 Pa 610–703
Wind speed2.30 m/s 1.60–2.90
Cloud cover25.1 % 23.8–26.4
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 2 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation2 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility447 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI2 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics3 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗