CAT-00060
Old man saltbush
Atriplex nummularia
Catalog fields
- Genus
- Atriplex
- Photo
- Not recorded
- Edible
- Yes
- layout
- double
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Published
- Yes
- Food group
- Leaf vegetable
- Latin name
- Atriplex nummularia
- Fruit photo
- Not recorded
- Plant title
- Old man saltbush
- Source URLs
- https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Atriplex%20nummularia | https://tuckerbush.com.au/plants/herb-spice-plants/; https://tuckerbush.com.au/old-man-saltbush-atriplex-nummularia/ Open source ↗ Open source 2 ↗ Open source 3 ↗
- Catalogue ID
- CAT-00060
- Mature width
- 1-2m
- Native range
- All mainland states in Australia.
- Plant family
- Amaranthaceae
- Supplier SKU
- Not recorded
- Listing group
- Common bush-food crop
- Mature height
- 2-3m
- Native states
- NSW, NT, QLD, SA, VIC, WA
- Original list
- No
- Research date
- 10/10/2026
- Research notes
- Profile enriched from botanical/nursery sources. Dimensions are unpruned regional estimates where available; missing measurements remain explicit. Seasons are regional guides and vary with climate, location, cultivar and plant maturity. Drought and cultivation guidance are qualitative garden inferences, not measured ratings.
- Evidence status
- Nursery food-use source; preparation detail review pending
- Fruiting season
- Dry seed follows flowers
- Background photo
- Not recorded
- Edible component
- Leaves; usually cooked
- Flowering season
- Species-specific flowering period not yet confirmed.
- Brief description
- Grey-leaved salt-tolerant shrub.
- Drought tolerance
- High once established.
- Preparation notes
- Leaves are salty; use appropriate cooking and portion guidance rather than treating as an unrestricted salad green.
- Flower description
- Tiny, inconspicuous flowers; detailed species-specific appearance needs confirmation.
- General cultivation
- General guidance (qualitative): Good sunny dry-site prospect; avoid waterlogging and process salty leaves appropriately.
- Botanical description
- Erect shrub to 3 m high, predominantly dioecious. Leaves broadly elliptic to ovate or obovate, obtuse, denticulate to coarsely dentate, smooth, grey-green; lamina 2–4 cm long, petiole 0.5–1 cm long. Male flowers in disjunct glomerules c. 6 mm diam. arranged in panicles. Female flowers in compact clusters arranged in panicles c. 20 cm long. Fruiting bracteoles sessile; valves free, orbicular to rhomboidal, 5–15 mm long, 5–11 mm wide, entire or denticulate, rounded at apex, cuneate to cordate at base, papery or thickened towards base around seed; appendages absent.
- Other botanical names
- Not recorded
- Attracts birds and bugs
- Native bees and insects visit flowers; canopy shelters birds.
- Flora of Australia profile
- https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Atriplex%20nummularia Open source ↗
- Fruit type and description
- Small dry one-seeded fruits enclosed by papery bracteoles; leaves are the crop.
- Flora of Australia citation
- G.A. Parr-Smith. Atriplex nummularia. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Atriplex%20nummularia (accessed 2026-10-14). Copyright Commonwealth of Australia; CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). HTML formatting removed; species-level context added where noted. Open source ↗ Open source 2 ↗
- Flora of Australia retrieved
- 14/10/2026