Shadscale
Atriplex confertifolia
Shadscale is a spiny, silvery saltbush of cold deserts and alkaline flats, vital browse and seed for wildlife and a tough soil-binder for saline, arid ground. Leaves are cooked as greens, and the seed has been ground into a traditional meal.
- Family
- Amaranthaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 3–3 ft
- Spacing
- 2–4 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry, moist
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- April, May, June, July
- Bloom colors
- green
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, mammals
- Landscape uses
- foundation
- Native states
- AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, ND, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WY
Related native plants
More Atriplex species
- Fourwing Saltbush (Atriplex canescens)
- Desert Holly (Atriplex hymenelytra)
- Quailbush (Atriplex lentiformis)