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Orache

Atriplex

Also called Saltbush, Oraches, Orach, Saltbushes

Orache
Photo: Johann Georg Sturm (Painter: Jacob Sturm), Public domain

Atriplex is a genus of about 250 annual or perennial herbs, subshrubs and shrubs, known as saltbush or orache, many of which tolerate salty and dry soils. Most grown plants are garden orache (A. hortensis), an edible leafy vegetable, and various saltbushes used for forage and landscaping.

Family
Amaranthaceae (Amaranth & beet family)
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly once established; saltbushes tolerate drought and salty soil, while garden orache needs regular moisture.
Soil
Well-drained soil; tolerates saline, sandy or alkaline soils.
Temperature
Hardy in cool to warm climates, from subtropical to subarctic depending on species; frost-hardy in most species.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts

About

Atriplex () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae s.l..

The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments.

Where it grows

The genus Atriplex is distributed nearly worldwide from subtropical to temperate and to subarctic regions. Most species-rich are Australia, North America, South America and Eurasia. Many species are halophytes and are adapted to dry environments with salty soils.

Uses

The favored species for human consumption is now usually garden orache (A. hortensis), but many species are edible and the use of Atriplex as food is known since at least the late Epipaleolithic (Mesolithic).

Other Atriplex plants

Tubercled saltbush · Swamp Saltbush · Fan Saltbush · Silverscale saltbush · Native Orache · Atriplex billardierei · Silver saltbush · Fourwing saltbush · Gray saltbush · Flat-topped saltbush · Shadscale saltbush · Heartscale

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Atriplex by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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