Shadscale

Shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia) is a member of the Chenopodiaceae, the goosefoot family, and grows as a subshrub or shrub with multiple stems. It is native to the arid western United States and northeastern Mexico, with a range spanning Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Across that range it favors full sun and accepts both dry and moist conditions, doing best in light, sandy or medium soils held at a pH between roughly 7.5 and 9. Plants are slow growing, reach about 1.8 meters, and are hardy in zones 6 to 9. The foliage is coarse and green, and the small flowers are yellow, giving the shrub a muted, textured appearance through the season. Shadscale is recorded as edible: its leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, and its seeds are typically dried before being used, which has made the plant a resource in the regions where it grows naturally. It is not documented as a medicinal species. Because wild plants can resemble other salt-tolerant shrubs and may accumulate minerals from alkaline soils, careful identification and conservative use are advisable. In cultivation it is most at home within its native range, where seed is the usual means of propagation and its compact, many-branched form and coarse green foliage give it value in dry plantings.