Atriplex coronata var. coronata

Crownscale

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Crownscale is a California native annual herb found in southern Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and eastern Santa Clara River Valley in fine, alkaline soils at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from March to October, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers with pale greenish-white bracts surrounding delicate fruit clusters. Growing with decumbent to ascending branches that spread low across the ground, it forms compact clusters reaching 10 to 30 centimeters wide. Its leaves are variable, typically triangular to diamond-shaped with a grayish-green coloration that helps it blend into alkaline soil environments. The plant's distinctive fruit bracts are slightly compressed, with few tubercles and marginal teeth, creating a subtle, intricate texture characteristic of this salt-tolerant species.

Habitat: Fine, alkaline soils

Bloom period: Mar-Oct

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: s ScV, SnJV, e SCoRI.

California counties: Riverside, Kern, San Luis Obispo, Kings, Merced, Los Angeles, Tulare, Colusa, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, Alameda, Fresno, Solano, Monterey

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