Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Atriplex serenana is a species of saltbush known by the common names leafscale and stinking orach. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in saline and alkaline soils such as those on alkali flats and beach bluffs. This is a mat-forming annual herb producing scaly stems up to a meter long. The toothed leaves are 1 to 4 centimeters long. The flowers are generally borne in hard clusters along the stem and there is sometimes a spikelike flower cluster of male flowers at the end of the stem. There are two varieties of this species. The rarer of the two, Davidson's saltscale (var. davidsonii), is limited to the coastline of southern California and Baja California.

Plant type

Annual herb

Size

1 - 3 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Green

Sun

Full Sun

Site type

Alkaline flats, bluffs

Plant communities

Coastal Sage Scrub, Valley Grassland, Wetland-Riparian

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

1 confirmed and 15 likely

Confirmed Likely

Western Pygmy Blue

Brephidium exilis

Garden Webworm Moth

Achyra rantalis

Edwards' Beach Moth

Anarta edwardsii

Alfalfa Looper Moth

Autographa californica