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Atriplex canescens
Also called Four Wing Saltbush, Shadscale, Nuttall's Saltbush, Chamiso
Fourwing saltbush is a hardy, evergreen desert shrub native to the western and midwestern United States, usually 2 to 4 feet tall. It thrives in full sun and very well-drained, poor soil, and it tolerates drought and alkaline conditions.
Atriplex canescens (or chamiso, chamiza, four-wing saltbush) is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae (subfamily Chenopodioideae) native to the western and midwestern United States.
Fourwing saltbush is most common in early succession areas such as disturbed sites and active sand dunes. It is also found in more mature successions dominated by sagebrush—Artemisia tridentata and shadscale.
Among the Zuni people, an infusion of dried root and blossoms or a poultice of blossoms is used for ant bites. Twigs are also attached to prayer plumes and sacrificed to the cottontail rabbit to ensure good hunting. The Native American Hopi Indians prefer the ashes of four-wing saltbush for the nixtamalization of maize (the first step in the process of creating tortillas and pinole, by which the pericarp of Indian corn is removed before parching and grinding). Oftentimes the four-wing saltbush was used instead of slaked lime (hydrate lime/slaked powder lime). Four-wing saltbush is also a common marker that archaeologists can use to locate ancient Pueblo ruins, which may indicate that the small branches of this bush were burned for their alkaline ashes to nixtamalize maize by Native peoples throughout the South-Western United States.
Tubercled saltbush · Swamp Saltbush · Fan Saltbush · Silverscale saltbush · Native Orache · Atriplex billardierei · Silver saltbush · Gray saltbush · Flat-topped saltbush · Shadscale saltbush · Heartscale · Crownscale
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Atriplex canescens 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.
