Atriplex halimus L.
A. parvifolia sensu Pau
Eng.: Shrubby orache. Spa.: Armuelle, orgaza, osagra, salobre, salado blanco. Fre.: Arroche marine, arroche pourpier de mer. Ara.: Gttaf, guettaf, qataf, aramass, i-hetba. Tam.: Hermes, aramès, aremmas. Tamahaq: Aramas.
Evergreen shrub, monoecious, up to 3 m in height, highly branched from the base. Stems and branches erect, sometimes tangled. Bark and leaves greyish-whitish giving the plant its characteristic silvery-white appearance. Leaves (10-50 × 5-30 mm) alternate, highly variable in shape, deltoid-ovate to lanceolate and even hastate (var. hastulata Maire), generally entire margin, slightly wavy and petiole very short (1-5 mm); slightly fleshy. Flowers very small, in a paniculiform inflorescence, yellow. Male flowers are arranged towards the top and the female flowers towards the base of the inflorescence. When developing, the female flower forms two subcoriaceous bracteoles or fruit valves of suborbicular-reniform appearance, with the margin generally entire and with the dorsal side smooth, without tubercles, which are fused together enclosing the fruit. Fruit a compressed and smooth ovoid achene.
Flowering:
May to December.
Fruiting:
Just one month later, it is normal to see plants in full bloom alongside others with ripe fruit.
Habitat:
Clayey, loamy, sandy and even rocky soils, always ± saline, from sea level to 1,000 m.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region, Canary Islands and southern Africa. In North Africa it is widely distributed from the Mediterranean to the Sahel and from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. It can be missing from large areas, like much of the Libyan desert.
Observations:
Highly polymorphic species from which several varieties and a number of forms have been described.
Conservation status:
It is a common and even locally abundant species. It is not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.