| Atriplex nuttallii | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus: | Atriplex |
| Species: | A. nuttallii |
| Binomial name | |
| Atriplex nuttallii | |
Atriplex nuttallii, also known as Nuttall's saltbush, [2] is native to central and western North America. It has been treated by some botanists as a synonym of Atriplex canescens . [3] [4]
The species is mainly found from south of Washington to northwestern California; east to Saskatchewan and the Dakotas; south through Wyoming and Colorado to New Mexico and Arizona; and north to Nevada. It has been spotted in southern California, as well. [5]
The plant adopts to grow better in light and medium soils, demands well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It demands dry or moist soil. It can allow up to 13,000 ppm soluble salts and it is usually the only perennial plant that can be existed in highly saline environments. It develops in areas with 150 to 280 millimetres (5.9 to 11.0 in) of annual precipitation. [5] [6]
Atriplex nuttallii is an evergreen shrub growing to 0.9 metres (3.0 ft). These species are low-growing, evergreen shrubs that form dense and prostrate. Prostrate branches often create adventitious roots when in contact with the soil.
Leaves are sessile, elongated, rounded at the apex, opposite on the lower portions of stems, and alternate above. The bark is smooth, absorbent, and white. Leaf blades are densely scurfy and 7 to 18 millimetres (0.28 to 0.71 in) wide. [6]
Blooming occurs between March and May and fruits (utricles) ripen 6 to 10 weeks later. They usually produce low amounts of seeds, but they still make some seeds during drought. The plants are normally dioecious (each individual plant has only male or only female flowers, but normally not both) and are pollinated by wind, but some monoecious examples (possessing both male and female flowers, as separate structures) are also present. [2] [7]
It has fairly good nutritional forages for livestock and wildlife species throughout its range. Antelope, mule deer, rabbits, and mourning doves graze on it. Its leaves are an important food source during the winter because of their persistency. It is especially important for sheep because it contributes to the minimum nutritional requirement for maintenance of gestating female sheep. [5] [8]
Artificial seeding can be applied during fall because germination is near zero without cold treatment. Between 2.2 and 4.5 kilograms (4.9 and 9.9 lb) of genuine live seed/harvest are suggested for seeding rates. Seeds must be scattered in separate rows and covered with a harrow. It also must be planted close to the soil, less than 1.3 centimetres (0.51 in) deep. During the first year, seedlings come out quickly and develop vigorously. It continues to grow until the condition of moisture in the soil becomes limiting. [6] [9]
Cornus nuttallii, the Pacific dogwood,western dogwood, or mountain dogwood, is a species of dogwood tree native to western North America. The tree's name used by Hul'q'umi'num'-speaking nations is Kwi’txulhp.
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.
Frangula californica is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family native to western North America. It produces edible fruits and seeds. It is commonly known as California coffeeberry and California buckthorn.
Atriplex canescens is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae native to the western and midwestern United States.
Atriplex confertifolia, the shadscale or spiny saltbush, is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, which is native to the western United States and northern Mexico.
Atriplex hymenelytra, the desert holly, is silvery-whitish-gray shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, native to deserts of the southwestern United States. It is the most drought tolerant saltbush in North America. It can tolerate the hottest and driest sites in Death Valley, and remains active most of the year.
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.
Arctostaphylos montaraensis, known by the common name Montara manzanita, is a species of manzanita in the family Ericaceae.
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 cordulata is a species of saltbush known by the common names heartscale and heart-leaf orache. It is endemic to the Central Valley and its San Joaquin Valley of California, where it grows in areas of saline and alkaline soils.
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.
Xylococcus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the heather family which contains the single species Xylococcus bicolor, commonly known as the mission manzanita. It is a burl-forming, evergreen shrub with leathery leaves and smooth dark reddish bark. From December to February, white to pink urn-shaped flowers adorn the foliage, often attracting hummingbird pollinators. It is native to southern California and the Baja California Peninsula, south to the Sierra de la Giganta. There is growing concern over the future of this plant, referred to as the "queen of the elfin forest, " as it may possibly lose up to 88% of its habitat and its wild seedlings are failing to survive more than a full year.
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.
