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River saltbush | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Amaranthaceae |
Genus: | Atriplex |
Species: | A. amnicola |
Binomial name | |
Atriplex amnicola | |
Atriplex amnicola, commonly known as river saltbush or swamp saltbush, is a species of shrub in the family Amaranthaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it is native to the floodplains of the Murchison and Gascoyne Rivers.
River saltbush is a multi-branched shrub whose form ranges from prostrate to erect. In ideal conditions it may be up to four metres wide, and the erect form may be up to 2.5 metres high. The branches of river saltbush spread along the ground, and may layer and take root, especially in the prostrate form. The leaves are bluish-green and covered in fine silvery hairs. There is great variation in leaf size and shape, but they are often spear-shaped, and usually between one and three centimetres long. Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Male flowers are a purplish-green colour, and help in clusters at the ends of branches; female flowers usually cluster in the axils between leaves and stems. This is a predominantly dioecious species, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals. The fruit is a woody case about five millimetres square, each containing a single seed.
River saltbush is very highly salt tolerant, and is used in Australia in the rehabilitation of saline areas. When grown in saline soil, it has the best long-term survival and growth of any saltbush. It is also fairly drought tolerant, and tolerates waterlogging well once mature. It is highly favoured by sheep, and recovers well from grazing. Studies have shown that the meat of sheep grazed on river saltbush is high in Vitamin E and has high "consumer appeal". Disadvantages include a low volunteering rate, and difficulties establishing by direct seeding.
Atriplex is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache. It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae s.l.. The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments. The generic name originated in Latin and was applied by Pliny the Elder to the edible oraches. The name saltbush derives from the fact that the plants retain salt in their leaves; they are able to grow in areas affected by soil salination.
Atriplex semibaccata, commonly known as Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, or creeping saltbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a perennial herb native to Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, but has been introduced into other states and to overseas countries. It flowers and fruits in spring, and propagates from seed when the fruit splits open. This species of saltbush is adapted to inconsistent rainfall, temperature and humidity extremes and to poor soil. It is used for rehabilitation, medicine, as a cover crop and for fodder. Its introduction to other countries has had an environmental and economic impact on them.
Atriplex cinerea, commonly known as grey saltbush, coast saltbush, barilla or truganini, is a plant species in the family Amaranthaceae. It occurs in sheltered coastal areas and around salt lakes in the Australian states of Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales.
Atriplex vesicaria, commonly known as bladder saltbush, is a species of flowering plant of the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to arid and semi-arid inland regions of Australia. It is an upright or sprawling shrub with scaly leaves and separate male and female plants, the fruit often with a bladder-like appendage.
Atriplex argentea is a species of saltbush known by the common names silverscale saltbush and silver orache. It is native to western North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitat, generally on saline soils.
Atriplex fruticulosa is a species of saltbush known by the common names ball saltbush and little oak orach.
Atriplex lentiformis is a species of saltbush.
Atriplex nummularia is a species of saltbush from the family Amaranthaceae and is a large woody shrub known commonly as oldman saltbush. A. nummularia is native to Australia and occurs in each of the mainland states, thriving in arid and semi-arid inland regions.
Atriplex pacifica is a species of saltbush known by the common names Davidson's saltbush, South Coast saltbush, and Pacific orach.
Atriplex parishii is an uncommon species of saltbush known by the common names Parish's saltbush and Parish's brittlescale. It is native to central and southern California where it can occasionally be found along the immediate coastline, and the Channel Islands. Its distribution extended historically into the western edges of the Mojave Desert and Baja California and it may still exist there.
Atriplex parryi is a species of saltbush known by the common name Parry's saltbush. It is native to the deserts and plateaus of eastern California and western Nevada.
Atriplex spinifera is a species of saltbush, known by the common names spiny saltbush and spinescale saltbush.
Atriplex watsonii is a species of saltbush known by the common name Watson's saltbush, or Watson's orach. It is native to the coastline of California and Baja California, where it grows in coastal areas with saline soils, such as salt marshes and beach scrub, with other halophytes such as saltgrass. It extends inland in the Los Angeles Basin, and along the Santa Ana River.
Atriplex gardneri is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name Gardner's saltbush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Saskatchewan in Canada south to Nevada and New Mexico in the United States. The specific epithet of the species, gardneri, is misnamed after its first collector, Alexander Gordon. The naturalist Alfred Moquin-Tandon was under the impression that Gordon's last name was Gardner.
Atriplex acanthocarpa is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common names armed saltbush, tubercled saltbush, and huaha. It is native to North America, where it is limited to the US states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and adjacent Mexico.
Atriplex nuttallii, also known as Nuttall's saltbush, is native to central and western North America. It has been treated by some botanists as a synonym of Atriplex canescens.
Atriplex holocarpa is a low-growing species of Atriplex (saltbush) found throughout arid regions of Australia. A. holocarpa is commonly known as pop saltbush, because its carpals pop when stepped upon.
Atriplex stipitata, commonly known as mallee saltbush, bitter saltbush and kidney saltbush, is a species of shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, found in all mainland states of Australia.
Atriplex sturtii, commonly known as saltbush, is an endangered species within the widespread genus Atriplex.A. sturtii is a native Australian shrub and grows in the Channel Country bioregion, also referred to as 'Corner Country'.
Atriplex angulata, commonly known as fan saltbush or angular saltbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is an annual to short-lived perennial subshrub, native to Australia, distributed throughout drier parts of the mainland.