Atriplex

Atriplex is a plant genus whose hundred or so members go by the common names of saltbush and orach (or orache). The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. The genus includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments. Many species are edible.

The garden orach (A. hortensis), also called red orach, mountain spinach or French spinach, is an annual leaf vegetable with a salty, spinach-like taste. The plant grows 1–2 m (3–6 ft) in height and the leaves are used cooked or in salads. The plant is also used as an ornamental in landscaping.

Various Atriplex species are sometimes used as food plants by the larva of the Blood-vein, a species of moth.

External links

• ITIS report
• Floridata (with photos of A. hortensis)
• University of Florida Agricultural extension