Atriplex elegans var. fasciculata

Mecca orach, Mecca Orach

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Mecca orach is a California native annual found in southern Owens Valley and the Mojave Desert in saline or alkaline soils, dry lake beds, and desert regions at elevations below 880 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers with delicate pale green to whitish bracts. Growing with slender, branching stems up to 30 centimeters tall, it forms compact, spread-out clusters in harsh desert environments. Its leaves are characteristically simple and entire, with blade margins smooth and unlobed, blending seamlessly into the arid landscape. In fruit, the plant develops bracts with extremely fine teeth measuring just 0.3 to 0.5 millimeters wide, a subtle adaptation to its extreme desert habitat.

Habitat: Saline or alkaline soils, dry lakes

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: < 880 m

Bioregions: s SNE, D

California counties: Imperial, San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo, Kern, San Diego

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