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Atriplex acanthocarpa
Also called Burscale, Armed Saltbush
Tubercled saltbush is a native, evergreen desert shrub from the southwestern US and northern Mexico, grown mainly in dry, low-water landscapes. The key to growing it is full sun, sharp drainage and minimal watering once established.
Atriplex acanthocarpa is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common names armed saltbush, tubercled saltbush, and huaha. It is native to North America, where it is limited to the US states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and adjacent Mexico.
This species is a shrub or subshrub producing stems with woody bases growing up to about a meter tall by a meter wide. It has a woody root. It is evergreen, the leaves persisting through the seasons. They are oppositely arranged basally and alternately arranged toward the ends of the stems. The leaf blades are variable in shape and size, growing up to 5 centimeters long. The plant is dioecious, with male and female flowering parts on separate plants. Male flowers are borne in spikes and female flowers are borne in axillary clusters or spikelike inflorescences. The fruits have tubercles up to 8 millimeters long.
Swamp Saltbush · Fan Saltbush · Silverscale saltbush · Native Orache · Atriplex billardierei · Silver saltbush · Fourwing saltbush · Gray saltbush · Flat-topped saltbush · Shadscale saltbush · Heartscale · Crownscale
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Atriplex acanthocarpa 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
