WILDFLOWER HOME PAGE      SEARCH BY PLANT NAME      YELLOW FLOWERS     CONTACT US

    Atriplex is an ancient Latin name for a now unknown plant; the name was applied to this genus in modern times by Linnaeus in 1753.

 

Atriplex canescens (Four-Winged Saltbush)
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring.
Hunter Canyon, Utah, May 2, 2005.

Four-Winged Saltbush is a common shrub in the high desert, often about four or five feet in diameter.  Its flowers are tiny and  yellow, but when massed in a good moisture year such as 2005, they put on quite a display.  Seeds, as shown below, are quite large, massed, and very obvious.  Some plants have no seeds for the plant can be either monoecious or dioecious.

"Canescens", "grayish", refers to the leaf color.

Atriplex canescens (Four-Winged Saltbush)
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring.
Arches National Park, Utah, May 5, 2005.
Murphy Trail, Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, September 27, 2005.
Negro Bill Canyon, Utah, April 1, 2004.

Maturing seed pods.

Atriplex canescens (Four-Winged Saltbush)
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring.
Bill Canyon, Utah, April 1, 2004.

Leaves are narrow and covered with fine hairs giving the light green leaf a silvery-gray appearance.

Atriplex confertifolia (Shadscale, Saltbush)
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, March 27, 2004.

This is a common, low shrub of the Four Corners area, growing on open hot hillsides.  Its rounded low profile is punctuated by numerous spiny projections. The plant is dioecious, and flowers are inconspicuous yellow for males and green/yellow for females.  Attractive pink bracts get much more attention.  Leaves are closely packed ("confertifolia") and dotted with a silvery scale.

Atriplex confertifolia was first collected by Fremont near the Great Salt Lake in 1843 and he and John Torrey named it Obione confertifolia.  Sereno Watson renamed it Atriplex confertifolia.
 

Atriplex confertifolia (Shadscale, Saltbush)
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, March 27and April 2, 2004.

Clusters of tiny yellow flowers emerge from a cloak of red bracts.