Atriplex dimorphostegia
Karelin & Kir.
Li bao bin li
(c) Ron Frumkin, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ron Frumkin
(c) mylabris, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Alexander Dubynin, some rights reserved (CC BY)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Seeds
Edible Parts: Leaves Seed Edible Uses: Leaves - cooked. An emergency food. Seed - used in piñole or ground into a meal and used as a thickener in making bread or mixed with flour in making bread. The seed is small and rather fiddly, about 1.5mm in diameter.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
A temperate plant. It grows in soils that are sometimes waterlogged. It grows in soils that are salty and alkaline. It grows on dunes. It grows in areas with a rainfall of 70 mm per year. It can grow in arid places.
Afghanistan, Africa, Algeria, Arabia, Asia, Central Asia, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Mediterranean, Middle East, Morocco, North Africa, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan,
How to Identify
An annual herb. It grows 20 cm tall. The leaves are 1-6 cm long by 1-3 cm wide.
How to Grow
We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though it should be possible to grow it as a spring-sown annual. It is a very variable species. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Succeeds in full sun in any well-drained but not too fertile soil. Most species in this genus tolerate saline and very alkaline soils.
Propagation: Seed - sow mid to late spring in situ. Germination is usually rapid.
Medicinal Uses
None known
Other Uses
None known Special Uses
Wikipedia
Source ↗Atriplex dimorphostegia is a low-growing annual reaching just 0.2 m tall. Flowering occurs June through July with rapid seed maturation in the same period. The species is monoecious, wind-pollinated, and grows in light sandy to medium loamy, well-drained soils. It tolerates poor soil fertility and adapts to mildly acidic through basic soils, including highly alkaline and saline conditions. Full sun exposure is essential, and it tolerates both drought and moist soils.
Notes
There are about 100-300 Atriplex species. They have also been put in the family Chenopodiaceae.
Names & Synonyms
Rghelah
References (7)
- Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 15:438. 1842 (Enum. pl. desert. Songor.)
- Flora of Pakistan. www.eFlora.org
- Mandaville, J. P., 2004, Bedouin ethnobotany: Plant concepts and plant use in a desert pastoral world. PhD thesis University of Arizona. p 162
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 7th April 2011]
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Zhu Gelin (Chu Ge-ling); Steven E. Clemants, CHENOPODIACEAE [Draft], Flora of China
