Is it a native?
Hastate Orache - introduced (*Atriplex prostrata)
Other Names: Orache, Mat Saltbush.
Family: Chenopodiaceae (Saltbush family).
Native of Europe, Asia & N America.
Occurrence: Common along creeks and drains; also on saline soils. It is an environmental weed.
Identification:
- it is a scrambling herb with slender stems; it may be prostrate or erect the leaves are often triangular, and much wider at the base
- it flowers for most of the year - the flowers are in clusters without obvious petals
- the leaves are mealy (i.e. there are white scales) underneath.
Hastate Orache is an annual. It may be spread by wind and water.
Name. Atriplex: an ancient Latin name.
Photos:
1 and 2: Hastate Orache beside Barkers Creek, Castlemaine North. Note the triangular leaves, the slender
stems, and the clustered flowers.
3: Barkers Creek , Castlemaine Botanic Gardens.
