Atriplex is a plant genus of 250–300 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.
Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to Atriplex, a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. Atriplex species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. Many Atriplex species are halophytes and are adapted to dry environments with salty soils.
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 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 paludosa, commonly known as marsh saltbush, is a species of saltbush endemic to Australia.
Atriplex patula is a ruderal, circumboreal species of annual herbaceous plant in the genus Atriplex naturalized in many temperate regions. Atriplex patula is a member of the family Chenopodiaceae.
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 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 truncata is a species of saltbush known by the common names wedgeleaf saltbush, wedgescale, and wedge orach, native to western North America from British Columbia to California and to New Mexico. It grows in montane to desert habitats with saline soils, such as dry lake beds.
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.
Ericameria paniculata is a species of flowering plant in the sunflower family Asteraceae, native to the southwestern United States. It is an evergreen yellow-flowered desert shrub.
Saltbush scrub is a Mojave Desert plant community and vegetation type, found above and beyond the alkali sink Shadscale scrub type.
Shadscale scrub is a Mojave Desert plant community and vegetation type or biome, characterized by salt tolerant plants—halophytes.
Aeoloplides tenuipennis, known generally as the narrow-winged saltbush grasshopper or narrow-winged bush grasshopper, is a species of spur-throated grasshopper in the family Acrididae. It is commonly found in eastern California, Arizona and southwestern New Mexico north through Utah and southern Nevada to southern Idaho.
