Atriplex amnicola

Swamp saltbush, Swamp Saltbush

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Swamp saltbush is a naturalized shrub found in southern California coastal areas in urban drainages and beaches at elevations below 15 meters. Flowering from February to October, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers in terminal and axillary clusters. Growing to less than 1.5 meters tall with many spreading branches, it forms a dense, multi-stemmed structure. Its leaves are narrowly elliptic to ovate, 10 to 30 millimeters long, with entire to irregularly toothed edges and tapered or lobed bases. The plant's distinctive fruit bracts are ovate to fan-shaped, 4 to 6 millimeters long, fused along their edges and convex on both sides.

Habitat: Urban drainages, beaches

Bloom period: Feb-Oct

Elevation: < 15 m

Bioregions: SCo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.