Atriplex cinerea (Chenopodiaceae) in New Zealand

Atriplex cinerea (Chenopodiaceae), a common coastal Australian salt bush, h as been treated as adventive to New Zealand since 1940. Evidence is present ed which refutes this claim and reinstates A. cinerea as indigenous to New Zealand. A detailed description and chromosome count (based on New Zealand material) for A. cinerea is provided, and a lectotype is selected for the s pecies. Aspects of the ecology, means of seed dispersal, and the conservati on of the species are reviewed. It is concluded that A. cinerea is a furthe r example of a distinctive vagrant element within the indigenous flora of N ew Zealand.