Obione stocksii Wight, Icon. P1. Ind. Or.5, Expl. plates 5 & tab. 1789. 1852; Atriplex griffithii Moq. var. stocksii (Boiss.) Boiss., F1.Or. 5: 916. 1879; Stewart, l.c. 218; A. griffithii Moq. subsp. stocksii (Boiss.) Boulos in Nord. J.Bot. 11. 310. 1991.

Shrubby, shining white, erect, much branched, robust, 20-60 cm high. Leaves alternate, oblong, orbicular or rhombic-ovate to oblong-spathulate, shortly cuneate at base, subsessile to shortly petiolate, obtuse 10-25 x 5-20 mm. Male flowers in axillary clusters or short spikes; females in few-flowered clusters. Fruiting bracteoles 10-12 mm in diameter, orbicular or broadly ovate, subcordate at base, and abruptly contracted in to a short pedicel, free, entire, coriaceous, ± reticulate.

Fl. Per.: December-January

Type: Scinde Stocks 542 (K!).

Distribution: Pakistan (endemic).

A fairly variable species. Boulos (1991) treated it as a subspecies of Atriplex griffithii Boiss. However, A. stocksii is an endemic species in the coastal belt of the Arabian sea. It has thin leaves, short stems, leafier and oblong-obovate leaves, with entire or lobulate margins.

There seems to be a controversy in the true authority of Atriplex stocksii. The taxon was first described by Wight (1852) as Obione stocksii Wight, based upon the specimen of J.E.Stocks (542) collected from Scinde (Sindh). Later, Boissier (1859) described the same taxon as Atriplex stocksii Boiss. based on two specimens:1. Scinde, Stocks (un-numbered by Boissier); 2. Persia australis, Aucher 5268; without any reference to Wight (1852). It seems that a combination was never proposed for the above taxon. However, as Boissier (1859) has already described the taxon under the appropriate genus , it seems most logical to attribute the species to Boissier (1859).