Plant Highlights

Atriplex lentiformis is a species of saltbush known by the common names big saltbrush, big saltbush, quail bush, quailbrush, lenscale, len-scale saltbush and white thistle. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in habitats with saline or alkaline soils, such as salt flats and dry lake beds, coastline, and desert scrub. It can also be found in nonsaline soils on riverbanks and woodland. This is a spreading shrub reaching 3' to 9' in height and generally more in width. It is highly branched and bears gray-green leaves up to 3" long and often toothed or rippled along the edges. This species may be dioecious or monoecious, with individuals bearing either male or female flowers, or sometimes both. Male flowers are borne in long narrow inflorescences while inflorescences of female flowers are smaller and more compact. Plants can change from monoecious to dioecious and from male to female and vice versa. This saltbush species and Atriplex canescens are the food plants for the saltbush sootywing Hesperopsis alpheus, a butterfly. This plant is used to revegetate sage scrub habitat.