Atriplex halimus - Mediterranean saltbush

Mediterranean saltbush (Atriplex halimus) is an evergreen shrub tolerant of saline, alkaline, and coastal conditions. Its leaves are edible with a salty flavour, and it is widely planted as a hedge, windbreak, and livestock forage on poor or saline ground.

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹
• Hardiness zone 9¹
• Hardiness zone 10¹

Outputs

• Human food¹

Type

• Shrub
• Evergreen
• Perennial

Functions

• Hedge¹
• Windbreak¹
• Soil stabilization¹
• Fodder¹
• Wildlife habitat¹
• Fire resistance²³⁴

Footnotes

1. Atriplex halimus | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. Fire Retardant Flora, Glen Forrest Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade, adapted from “Trees and Plants for Bush Fire Prone Areas,” Fire and Emergency Services Authority (Western Australia), 2002, listed as Saltbush ↩

3. White, R.H. & Zipperer, W.C., “Testing and classification of individual plants for fire behaviour: plant selection for the wildland–urban interface,” International Journal of Wildland Fire 19(2), 2010, pp. 213-227 (https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/36499.pdf), Table 6: cone-calorimeter data (after Weise et al. 2005) recording no sustained ignition for Atriplex halimus ↩

4. Guia de pirojardineria, Diputació de Girona / Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya, 2020, rated “molt recomanada” (highly recommended) ↩