Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt.

vernacular fourwing saltbush — species · Chenopodiaceae

USDA: ATCA2
GBIF: 3083750
Rank: species

fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) — Platephotograph · Bobby McCabeCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Chenopodiaceae Vent.
Genus: Atriplex

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 9 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 9 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Low
Salinity: High
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: Medium

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -43 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 115 min.
Precipitation: 5–18 in/yr
pH range: 6.5–9.5
Root depth: 20 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 4 ft
Height @ 20 y: 4 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Green
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 44,203
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: High
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 9 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 9 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ATCA2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3083750 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z