How to Grow and Care for Saltbush

Other, more descriptive names for Atriplex prostrata include fat-hen, mat saltbush, spade leaf, and creeping saltbush. Some of the names include "saltbush" because it thrives best in saline environments. That’s why you’ll find this weed growing along beaches and roadsides where there are salt deposits. Its leaves are shaped much like arrowheads.

Saltbush is a shrub native to the Mediterranean basin and some surrounding areas. Because it is extremely tolerant of drought, it is often grown as fodder, and it has also been used for food. Ancient Jewish tradition and Hebrew history claim this shrub was foraged as food by poor people returning from exile.

Australian saltbush (Atriplex semibaccata) is a plant species in the Amaranthaceae family that grows to be around 1.8 m wide. This species flowers all year and is often planted for ornamental ground cover. Australian saltbush is native to coastal regions of southern Australia.

Chamiso (Atriplex canescens) is an evergreen shrub that is native to the western USA. The plant has strong cultural significance to the Zuni Native Americans and is used in rituals to ensure good hunting. The peculiar four-winged fruits give the shrub its name. The chamiso naturally hybridizes with several other species of Atriplex.

Spear saltbush is a shrub that attracts Asian hornets to its flowers, as well as a variety of other pollinators. This plant collects salt from the environment and stores it in its tissues, lowering salt content in the soil, which proves to be beneficial in areas with high road salt contamination.