Carried by 19 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora
Atriplex canescens (Chamiso, Chamiza, Four wing saltbush, Four-wing saltbush, Fourwing saltbush) is a species of evergreen shrub in the Amaranthaceae family, which is native to the western United States. Fourwing saltbush has a highly variable form, and readily hybridizes with several other species in the Atriplex genus. The degree of polyploidy also results in variations in form. Its height can vary from 1 foot to 10 feet, but 2 to 4 feet is most common. The leaves are thin and 0.5 to 2 inches long. It is most readily identified by its fruits, which have four wings at roughly 90 degree angles and are densely packed on long stems. The fruit stem resembles a mass of corn flakes.
Atriplex canscens is a great bird plant. Best to plant in dry salty soils. Susceptible to root rot unless drought or salt stressed.
Shrub
1 - 10 ft Tall
3 - 7 ft Wide
Upright, Mounding
Fast, Slow
Summer Semi-deciduous, Evergreen
Yellow, Green
Summer, Spring
Hedge
Full Sun
Low
Max 1x / month once established
Moderate
Tolerates cold to 0 - 10° F
Fast, Medium, Slow
Tolerates a wide variety of soil types, including salt, sand and clay and very alkaline soils.
Tolerates saline soil..
Soil PH: 7 - 8
For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds need dry storage for about 10 mos.; stored seeds, no treatment. (USDA Forest Service 1974; or 2.5 mos. stratification (Stidham et al. 1980).
Areas with poor soils, often salty, alkaline or clay slopes, stabilized sand dunes, gravelly washes.
Alkali Sink, Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, Coastal Strand, Creosote Bush Scrub, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Valley Grassland
Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis), Mojave Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum var foliolosum), Cream Bush (Holodiscus discolor), Hairy Sand Verbena (Abronia villosa), About Saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), Big Saltbush (Atriplex lentiformis), California Saltbush (Extriplex californica), Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia), California Box Thorn (Lycium californicum)
Butterflies and moths supported
6 confirmed and 10 likely
Western Pygmy Blue
Brephidium exilis
Saltbush Sootywing
Hesperopsis alpheus
Mohave Sootywing
Hesperopsis libya