Atriplex hortensis

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Atriplex hortensis
Atriplex hortensis cleaned Sturm.png
1796 painting of "Chenopodium hortense" [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Atriplex
Species:
A. hortensis
Binomial name
Atriplex hortensis
Synonyms [3]
Atriplex hortensis fruit and seeds Atriplex hortensis MHNT.BOT.2013.22.60.jpg
Atriplex hortensis fruit and seeds

Atriplex hortensis, known as garden orache, red orache or simply orache ( /ˈɒrə/ ; [4] also spelled orach), mountain spinach, French spinach, or arrach, is a species of plant in the amaranth family used as a leaf vegetable that was common before spinach and still grown as a warm-weather alternative to that crop. For many years, it was classified in the goosefoot family, but it has now been absorbed into the Amaranthaceae. It is Eurasian, native to Asia and Europe, and widely naturalized in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Contents

History

Originally from Asia, the orach is widespread throughout Europe. [11] It has been widely naturalized in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]


Description

Red orache with unripe fruit Rote Gartenmelde.jpg
Red orache with unripe fruit

Atriplex hortensis is a hardy annual plant, with an erect, branching stem. It varies in height from two to six feet, according to the variety and soil. The leaves are variously shaped, but somewhat oblong, comparatively thin, and slightly acidic to the taste. There are varieties with red, white and green leaves. The flowers are small and obscure, greenish or reddish, corresponding to a degree with the color of the foliage of the plant. They can be male, female or hermaphrodite. The fruits are often overhanging because of their weight. The seeds retain their viability for three years. [17] The yellow-brown seeds with a diameter of 3 to 4 millimeters and a more translucent seed shell are immediately germable. The black seeds with a diameter of only 1.5 to 2 millimeters and smooth, thick, leathery seed shell germinate only after two years.

The pollination is carried out by self-pollination, wind pollination, or insects. [18]

Use and cultivation

Atriplex hortensis has a salty, spinach-like taste. The leaves are used cooked or raw in salads. The green leaves were once used to color pasta in Italy. A common use of the plant is to balance out the acidic flavor of sorrel. [19]

It was commonly grown in Mediterranean regions from early times, until spinach became the more favored leaf vegetable. It is commonly grown as a warm-weather alternative to spinach because it is more tolerant of heat and slower to bolt in warm weather. [20]

Related Research Articles

<i>Beta vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Beta vulgaris (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of greatest importance to produce table sugar; the root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet; the leaf vegetable known as chard or spinach beet or silverbeet; and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognised. All cultivars, despite their quite different morphologies, fall into the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris. The wild ancestor of the cultivated beets is the sea beet.

<i>Matricaria</i> Genus of plants

Matricaria is a genus of flowering plants in the chamomile tribe within the sunflower family. Some of the species have the common name of "mayweed", but this name also refers to plants not in this genus.

<i>Blitum bonus-henricus</i> Species of flowering plant

Blitum bonus-henricus, also called Good-King-Henry, poor-man's asparagus, perennial goosefoot, Lincolnshire spinach, Markery, English mercury, or mercury goosefoot, is a species of goosefoot which is native to much of central and southern Europe.

<i>Cyperus</i> Genus of plants

Cyperus is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions.

<i>Hypochaeris radicata</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae

Hypochaeris radicata – also known as catsear, flatweed, cat's-ear, hairy cat's ear, or false dandelion – is a perennial, low-lying edible herb often found in lawns. The plant is native to Europe, but has also been introduced to the Americas, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, where it can be an invasive weed. It is listed as a noxious weed in the northwestern U.S. state of Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chenopodioideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

The Chenopodioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae in the APG III system, which is largely based on molecular phylogeny, but were included – together with other subfamilies – in the family Chenopodiaceae, or goosefoot family, in the Cronquist system.

<i>Atriplex</i> Genus of flowering plant

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea beet</span> Subspecies of beet (terrestrial)

The sea beet, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima, is a member of the family Amaranthaceae native to the coasts of Europe, northern Africa, and southern Asia.

<i>Lapsana communis</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae

Lapsana communis, the common nipplewort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and southwestern Asia, and it is widely naturalized in other regions including North America.

<i>Acanthus mollis</i> Species of flowering plant

Acanthus mollis, commonly known as bear's breeches, sea dock, bear's foot plant, sea holly, gator plant or oyster plant, is a species of plant in the family Acanthaceae and is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a leafy, clump-forming perennial herb, with a rosette of relatively large, lobed or toothed leaves, and purplish and white flowers on an erect spike.

<i>Chenopodium vulvaria</i> Species of flowering plant

Chenopodium vulvaria, stinking goosefoot is a foul-smelling plant that grows on bare ground in coastal habitats in the Mediterranean region and is associated with dung heaps and disturbed ground inland. It is native to southern Europe and western Asia and has spread to northern Europe other temperate parts of the world, with agriculture.

<i>Atriplex halimus</i> Species of flowering plant

Atriplex halimus is a species of fodder shrub in the family Amaranthaceae.

<i>Echinops sphaerocephalus</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Echinops sphaerocephalus, known by the common names glandular globe-thistle, great globe-thistle or pale globe-thistle, is a Eurasian species of globe-thistle belonging to the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae.

<i>Atriplex cinerea</i> Species of plant

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. The species is also known to be present in the Waimea inlet in New Zealand, although has historically been found in Boulder Bank, D'Urville Island, and Palliser Bay.

<i>Atriplex vesicaria</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Atriplex patula</i> Species of flowering plant

Atriplex patula is a ruderal, circumboreal species of annual herbaceous plant in the genus Atriplex naturalized in many temperate regions.

<i>Arctium tomentosum</i> Species of flowering plant

Arctium tomentosum, commonly known as the woolly burdock or downy burdock, is a species of burdock belonging to the family Asteraceae. The species was described by Philip Miller in 1768.

<i>Halimione</i> Genus of flowering plants

Halimione is a plant genus from the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It is a sister genus of Atriplex and is included in that genus by Plants of the World Online.

<i>Bidens bipinnata</i> Species of flowering plant

Bidens bipinnata is a common and widespread species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.

<i>Atriplex holocarpa</i> Species of flowering plant

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 carpels pop when stepped upon.

References

  1. Figure from Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen. Author: Johann Georg Sturm. Painter: Jacob Sturm
  2. "Atriplex hortensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2008-03-23.
  3. The Plant List, Atriplex hortensis L.
  4. "orache". Oxford English Dictionary third edition. Oxford University Press. June 2004. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  5. Flora of China, 榆钱菠菜 yu qian bo cai Atriplex hortensis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1053. 1753.
  6. Altervista Flora Italiana, Atriplice degli orti, bledos moles, Gartenmelde, trädgårdsmålla, Atriplex hortensis L., includes photos and European distribution map
  7. Flora of North America, Garden orach, Atriplex hortensis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1053. 1753.
  8. Biota of North America 2014 state-level distribution map
  9. Wilson, P. G. 1984. Chenopodiaceae. Flora of Australia 4: 81–330.
  10. Webb, C. J., W. R. Sykes & P. J. Garnock-Jones. 1988. Chenopodiaceae. Flora of New Zealand 515–534
  11. Uotila, P. (2011). "Chenopodiaceae (pro parte majore). – In: Euro+Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Atriplex hortensis L." www.eu-nomen.eu. PESI is funded by the European Union 7th Framework Programme within the Research Infrastructures programme. Retrieved 6 September 2024. Accessed through: Euro+Med PlantBase at http://ww2.bgbm.org/euroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?UUID=6BB476CB-2AE7-47BD-B05F-36CE7DBA9C0B
  12. Altervista Flora Italiana, Atriplice degli orti, bledos moles, Gartenmelde, trädgårdsmålla, Atriplex hortensis L., includes photos and European distribution map
  13. Flora of North America, Garden orach, Atriplex hortensis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1053. 1753.
  14. Biota of North America 2014 state-level distribution map
  15. Wilson, P. G. 1984. Chenopodiaceae. Flora of Australia 4: 81–330.
  16. Webb, C. J., W. R. Sykes & P. J. Garnock-Jones. 1988. Chenopodiaceae. Flora of New Zealand 515–534
  17. Burr, Fearing: The Field and Garden Vegetables of America, page 297. Crosby and Nichols, 1863
  18. Atriplex hortensis. In: BiolFlor, the Datenbank biologisch-ökologischer Merkmale der Flora von Deutschland. (Database of Biological-Ecological Features of the Flora of Germany)
  19. Davidson, Alan (1999): Orach. In: Oxford Companion to Food: 556. ISBN   0-19-211579-0
  20. Cornell University Gardening Growing Guide