Atriplex leucophylla

Beach saltbush, Beach Saltbush

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Beach saltbush is a California native perennial found in coastal bioregions including northern California Coast, central California Coast, San Francisco Bay, southern California Coast, and Channel Islands in sandy dunes and coastal soils at elevations below 60 meters. Flowering from April to October, this plant produces inconspicuous flowers in densely white-scaly clusters. Growing prostrate to decumbent with branches 3 to 10 decimeters long that can be erect or spreading, it forms low, sprawling mats characteristic of coastal dune environments. Its leaves are elliptic to wide-ovate, 9 to 40 millimeters long, with a distinctive white-scaly appearance that helps the plant retain moisture in harsh coastal conditions. The fruit develops as small red-brown seeds within spongy, spherical bracts 3 to 6 millimeters long.

Habitat: Sandy soils, dunes

Bloom period: Apr-Oct

Elevation: < 60 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SnFrB, SCo, ChI

California counties: Santa Cruz, Monterey, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Mateo, Alameda, San Diego, San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Del Norte

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