Atriplex canescens var. canescens

Fourwing saltbush

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Fourwing saltbush is a California native shrub found in the eastern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, southern coastal regions, northern Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and desert regions at elevations up to 2,100 meters in clay to gravelly flats and scrublands. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers with distinctive papery winged fruits. Growing 80 to 200 centimeters tall with multiple branching stems, it forms a broad, rounded shape characteristic of arid landscapes. Its leaves are linear to oblanceolate, measuring 15 to 50 millimeters long, with a grayish-green coloration that helps the plant blend into dry, sparse environments. The plant's most notable feature is its large, papery fruits with three to six millimeter wide wings that give it the name "fourwing" saltbush.

Habitat: Clay to gravelly flats, slopes, scrub

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: < 2100 m

Bioregions: SNH (e slope), Teh, SCoRI, SCo, n TR, PR, GB, D.

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Riverside, Los Angeles, Kern, Mono, Imperial, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Lassen, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Orange, Amador

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