Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Caryophyllales > Amaranthaceae > Atriplex > Atriplex halimusAtriplex halimus (saltbush)Synonyms: Atriplex halimioides; Atriplex halimoides (heterotypic); Atriplex halimus f. intermedia; Atriplex halimus f. ramosissima; Atriplex halimus f. rifea; Atriplex halimus f. venosa; Atriplex halimus var. argutidens; Atriplex halimus var. intermedia; Atriplex halimus var. ramosissima; Atriplex halimus var. rifaea; Atriplex halimus var. rifea; Atriplex halimus var. schweinfurthii; Atriplex halimus var. serrulata; Atriplex halimus var. venosa; Atriplex kataf (homotypic); Atriplex salsuginea; Atriplex serrulata; Chenopodium halimus (homotypic); Obione halimus (homotypic); Schizotheca halimus (homotypic) Atriplex halimus (known also by its common names: Mediterranean saltbush, Sea orache, Shrubby orache, Silvery orache) is a species of fodder shrub in the Amaranthaceae family, which is native to Europe and Northern Africa, including the Sahara in Morocco. This plant is often cultivated as forage because tolerating severe conditions of drought, and it can grow up in very alkaline and saline soils. In addition, it is useful to valorize degraded and marginal areas because it will contribute to the improvement of phytomass in this case. It is a dietary staple for the Sand Rat (Psammomys obesus). |
| Allergen Potential [1] | High |  | | Edible [2] | May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details. | | Flower Type [2] | Monoecious | | Hazards [2] | No member of this genus contains any toxins, all have more or less edible leaves. However, if grown with artificial fertilizers, they may concentrate harmful amounts of nitrates in their leaves. | | Leaf Type [2] | Evergreen | | Pollinators [2] | Wind | | Structure [2] | Shrub | | Usage [2] | The ash from the burnt plant is used as the alkali in making soap;
The plant makes a superb wind-resistant low-growing hedge that can be allowed to grow untrimmed or can be trimmed; It is especially valuable in maritime areas, succeeding right on the coast, though can also be used inland; The plant is extremely tolerant of pruning and can regrow even when cut back into old wood;
The plant draws salt out of the soil and so has been used in soil-reclamation projects to de-salinate the soil; | | | Height [2] | 6.56 feet (2 m) | | Width [2] | 9.84 feet (3 m) |
View Plants For A Future Record : Atriplex halimus |
Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000) ♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License♦ 3Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants♦ 4HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández ♦ 5Camelus dromedarius, Ilse U. Köhler-Rollefson, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 375, pp. 1-8 (1991) ♦ 6Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009 |
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0
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