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Watson's saltbush

Atriplex watsonii

Also called Watson’s orach, Watson's Orach

Watson's saltbush
Photo: Joyce Cory on Flickr as docentjoycefrom Los Osos, u.s.a., CC BY 2.0

Watson's saltbush is a low, mat-forming, gray-green perennial shrub from the salt marshes and coastal scrub of California and Baja California. It thrives in salty, well-drained coastal soils and needs full sun.

Family
Amaranthaceae (Amaranth & beet family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly once established; overwatering in pots or clay soil causes rot.
Soil
Sandy or gritty, well-drained soil; tolerates salinity and alkalinity.
Temperature
Mild coastal climates; tolerates heat, protect below about -5 °C.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
SW. California to Mexico (Baja California)
Climate
subtropical

About

Atriplex watsonii is a species of saltbush known by the common name Watson's saltbush, or Watson's orach. It is native to the coastline of California and Baja California, where it grows in coastal areas with saline soils, such as salt marshes and beach scrub, with other halophytes such as saltgrass. It extends inland in the Los Angeles Basin, and along the Santa Ana River.

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 watsonii 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.

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