Creeping Saltbush

Scientific Name:	Altriplex semibaccata	Creeping Saltbush
Other Common Names:	Berry Saltbush, Diamond Saltbush
Status:	Australian native.
Plant Description:	Perennial subshrub, with long slender, weak and rather brittle prostrate stems. Spreading to 1 m or more and rarely exceeding 30 cm in height. The leaves are up to 25 mm long, oblong to lance-shaped, often toothed on the margins, green above and mealy-white below. Small, inconpspicuous clusters of flowers in leaf axils. Fruits are succulent red berries when fresh, 4-6 mm long, rather flat and diamond shaped.
Habitat:	Found in a range of soil types but more common on clay loams and clays. It readily colonises scalds and bare areas, tolerating moderate to high soil salinity.
Comments:	This species often grows in dense mats up to a few metres across and produces prolific amounts of seed. It can be useful as stock-feed when conditons are dry, though a few cases have been reported where it was suspected of stock poisoning when oxalate levels in young plants were excessive. It has been used overseas as a coloniser with some success.

Creeping Saltbush Flower

Creeping Saltbush Fruit

Related Links

Desert Tropicals - Creeping Saltbush (external link)