''Atriplex canescens'' (or chamiso, chamiza, four-wing saltbush) is a species of

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

in the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

native to the western and midwestern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Description

''Atriplex canescens'' has a highly variable form, and readily hybridizes with several other species in the genus ''

Atriplex ''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''. The genus is quite variable and w ...

''. The degree of

polyploidy Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contain ...

also results in variations in form. Its height can vary from 1 foot to 10 feet, but 2 to 4 feet is most common. The leaves are thin and 0.5 to 2 inches long. It is most readily identified by the fruits, which have four wings at roughly 90 degree angles and are densely packed on long stems. This species blooms from April to October. Atriplex_canescens_var_canescens_6

Habitat

Fourwing saltbush is most common in early succession areas such as disturbed sites and active sand dunes. It is also found in more mature successions dominated by sagebrush—''Artemisia tridentata'' and

shadscale ''Atriplex confertifolia'', the shadscale or spiny saltbush, is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, which is native to the western United States and northern Mexico. Description The height of ''Atriplex confertifolia'' vari ...

Uses

Among the

Zuni people The Zuni ( zun, A:shiwi; formerly spelled ''Zuñi'') are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The Zuni are a Federally recognized tribe and most live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Lit ...

, an infusion of dried root and blossoms or a poultice of blossoms is used for ant bites. Twigs are also attached to prayer plumes and sacrificed to the cottontail rabbit to ensure good hunting. The Native American Hopi Indians preferred the ashes of four-wing saltbush for the

nixtamalization Nixtamalization () is a process for the preparation of corn, or other grain, in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater (but sometimes aqueous alkali metal carbonates), washed, and then hulled. The ter ...

of maize (the first step in the process of creating tortillas and pinole, by which the pericarp of Indian corn is removed before parching and grinding). Oftentimes the four-wing saltbush was used instead of slaked lime (hydrate lime/slaked powder lime).Hopi Cookery, by Juanita Tiger Kavena, 1980 Four-wing saltbush is also a common marker that archaeologists can use to locate ancient Pueblo ruins, which may indicate that the small branches of this bush were burned for their alkaline ashes to nixtamalize maize by Native peoples throughout the South-Western United States.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile: ''Atriplex canescens''

Calflora: ''Atriplex canescens''

Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Atriplex canescens''

USDA Forest Service: ''Atriplex canescens''

UC Photos gallery: ''Atriplex canescens''
canescens Flora of California Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the South-Central United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Alberta Flora of Nevada Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Mojave Desert Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Forages Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{medicinal-plant-stub