Atriplex nummularia, old man saltbush

Atriplex nummularia, commonly old man saltbush, comes to the Little Karoo, the Karoo and other arid and semi-arid regions of Southern Africa from Australia. Deliberate introduction of some Atriplex species as fodder plants has served farmers; the levels of success much debated, while some cultivars with low leaf salinity still serve the purpose. A forage crop in countries like Namibia and Tunisia, it is today a common plant in parts of the USA.

A. nummularia is a drought resistant species reaching heights between 1,5 m and 3 m, conditions permitting. It has thick, silvery grey leaves that are very variable in shape. They may be broadly ovate, elliptic, almost circular or nearly triangular. They grow alternately and stalked.

The clusters of tiny, wind-pollinated flowers at stem tips and leaf axils are yellow or pink. Male and female flowers sometimes grow on the same plant, sometimes on separate ones (Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; Wikipedia; www.anbg.gov.au).