Atriplex dioica

Thickleaf orach, Thickleaf Orach

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Thickleaf orach is a California native annual found in southern Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, central Coast, San Francisco Bay, and southern California coastal areas in moist, saline or alkaline soils at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from July to November, this plant produces green to reddish flowers with distinctive triangular to lance-shaped leaves. Growing 50 to 150 centimeters tall with branching stems that are reddish at the base and green-streaked, the plant has an upright, spreading form. Its leaves are 2 to 8 centimeters long, triangular to lance-shaped, sometimes with a slightly arrowhead-shaped base, ranging from entirely green to partially reddish. The plant produces two kinds of seeds, with black seeds about 1.5 to 2 millimeters wide and brown seeds 2 to 3 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Moist, saline or alkaline soils

Bloom period: Jul-Nov

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: s ScV, SnJV, CCo, SnFrB, SCo

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