Atriplex polycarpa

Allscale saltbush

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Allscale saltbush is a California native shrub found in the San Joaquin Valley margins, northern Transverse Ranges, eastern Peninsular Ranges, southern Sierra Nevada eastern edge, and desert regions at elevations below 1,500 meters in alkaline flats and dry lake habitats. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces tiny, inconspicuous flowers amid densely gray-scaly branches. Growing 5 to 20 decimeters tall with many spreading to ascending branches that become spine-like with age, it forms a compact and intricate shrub. Its leaves are small and thick, generally 3 to 25 millimeters long, ranging from oblong to narrowly oblanceolate in shape and appearing silvery-gray due to dense scaling. The fruits are small, spherical bracts that are 2 to 3 millimeters long, with minutely crenate edges and a smooth to slightly bumpy surface.

Habitat: Alkaline flats, dry lakes

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: SnJV and margins, n TR, e PR, s SNE, D

California counties: Inyo, Kern, San Bernardino, Imperial, Riverside, San Diego, Fresno, Santa Barbara, Orange, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, San Joaquin, Monterey, Tulare, San Benito, Kings, Glenn, Ventura, Sacramento, Merced

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