Giant Saltbush, Bluegreen saltbush
Atriplex nummularia
Family: Chenopodiaceae
What it is like
Atriplex nummularia is an evergreen Shrub growing to 3.5 m (11ft 6in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from May to July. The species is monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.
Height (m): 3.5
Where it is found
Alkaline places, mainly below 600 metres in California.
Australia. Naturalized in South-western N. America.
Conservation Status:
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, Argentina, Asia, Australia*, China, India, North America, South Africa, Southern Africa, Southern America, Swaziland, Taiwan, USA,
How it is used
Food
Rating: 3
Leaves and young shoots - cooked. Seed - cooked. It can be used as a piñole or be ground into a meal and used as a thickener in soups that are added to flour for making bread.
Medicine
Rating: 2
The plant has been used for the treatment of scurvy and blood diseases.
Other
Rating: 3
Fodder for sheep and cattle. A fire-retardant hedge in arid, inland areas. Agroforestry Uses: The plant has excellent potential for use as a windbreak. It provides a useful windbreak which, along with readily visible leaves in the lights of cars at night, makes it suitable for roadside plantings. Ornamental. The ornamental foliage can be pruned to make hedges and provides an attractive silvery contrast against darker plants in the garden. With its deep root system, the plant has good potential for use to prevent soil erosion. Other Uses: The wood is a high-quality fuel.
Fire retardant: Plants that do not easily burn and can be used in barrier plantings to limit the spread of forest fires.
Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.
Hedge: Plants that can be grown as hedges.
Soil stabilization: Plants that can be grown in places such as sand dunes in order to prevent erosion by wind, water or other agents.
Agroforestry Services: Windbreak: Linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock and benefit soil and water conservation.
Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.
Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.
Agroforestry Services: Windbreak: Linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock and benefit soil and water conservation.
Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.
Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.
Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.
Hedge: Hedge
How it is grown
Requires a position in full sun in any well-drained but not too fertile soil. Tolerates saline and very alkaline soils. Succeeds in a hot dry position. This species is not hardy in the colder areas of the UK, it tolerates temperatures down to between -5 and -10°c. Plants are usually monoecious but can be dioecious. Prefers an average annual rainfall between 300 - 600 mm. It is unlikely to do well in humid regions.
Propagating it: Seed - sow April/May in a cold frame in a compost of peat and sand. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 weeks at 13°c. Pot up the seedlings when still small into individual pots, grow on in a greenhouse for the first winter and plant out in late spring or early summer after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Very easy. Pot up as soon as they start to root (about 3 weeks) and plant out in their permanent positions late in the following spring. Cuttings of mature wood of the current season's growth, November/December in a frame. Very easy. Pot up in early spring and plant out in their permanent position in early summer.
Best place to grow: Cultivated Beds;
Habit: Shrub
Hardiness: 7-10
Growth:
Soil: Light (sandy), medium
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Dry, moist
Things to keep in mind
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.