Atriplex patulaL.

common orachespear orachspear saltbushspreading orachspreading orache

WFO wfo-0000556421 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Atriplex patula, photographed by Ryan Sorrells
fig. a Ryan Sorrells, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-31 / obs. 203401493

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
02920899
Filed as
Atriplex patula L.
Det. by
D. E. Atha 2017-01-01
Collected
D. E. Atha 2016-10-29
Origin
US
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 104 botanical countries

Regions where Atriplex patula is native: Algeria, Cape Provinces, Egypt, KwaZulu-Natal, Morocco, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Altay, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iran, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Lebanon-Syria, Sinai, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon AlgeriaCape ProvincesEgyptKwaZulu-NatalMoroccoTunisiaAfghanistanAltayCyprusEast Aegean Is.IranKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaSinaiTranscaucasusTürkiyeUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraineAlabamaAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIndianaIowaKansasMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNova ScotiaOhioOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaQuébecSaskatchewanSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingYukon BalearesSardegnaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Atriplex patula, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Alaska ASK
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Iran IRN
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Sinai SIN
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Cape Provinces CPP
Egypt EGY
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 59 in flower of 160 examined

Proportion of examined Atriplex patula in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 1 4 too few examined
Feb 1 1 too few examined
Mar 0 3 too few examined
Apr 0 0 too few examined
May 0 8 0% 0% to 32%
Jun 0 10 0% 0% to 28%
Jul 15 25 60% 41% to 77%
Aug 31 47 66% 52% to 78%
Sep 8 31 26% 14% to 43%
Oct 2 22 9% 3% to 28%
Nov 1 9 11% 2% to 44%
Dec 0 0 too few examined

Peak flowering in Aug. Each bar is the share of Atriplex patula observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 59 of 160 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 5 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Where it actually grows measured, from 2,020 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -16.9 °C -9.4 °C 2.4 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 19.9 °C 23.1 °C 27.4 °C
Annual rainfall 506 mm 681 mm 1,054 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 67 mm 110 mm 195 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 2,020 research-grade observations of Atriplex patula that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one. Climate from CHELSA V2.1 (Karger et al. 2017); occurrences from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 26 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Atriplex agrestis Schur
  • Atriplex amana Post
  • Atriplex angustifolia Sm.
  • Atriplex erecta Huds.
  • Atriplex hastata subsp. patula (L.) E.Pons
  • Atriplex hastata var. patula (L.) Farw.
  • Atriplex hastilifolia Rchb. ex Steud.
  • Atriplex macrodira Guss.
  • Atriplex nemorensis Schur
  • Atriplex oblongifolia var. patula (L.) Westerl.
  • Atriplex patula subsp. amana (Post) Aellen
  • Atriplex patula subsp. patula
  • Atriplex patula subsp. producta (Guss.) Giardina & Raimondo
  • Atriplex patula var. angustifolia Syme
  • Atriplex patula var. angustifolia Rodway
  • Atriplex patula var. angustifolia Bol. & Wolley-Dod
  • Atriplex patula var. japonica H.Lév.
  • Atriplex patula var. patula
  • Atriplex patula var. producta Guss.
  • Atriplex polymorpha Coss., Germ. & Wedd.
  • Atriplex procumbens S.B.Jundz.
  • Atriplex recta Schur
  • Atriplex salina Desf.
  • Atriplex virgata Scop.

and 2 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.