Cattle Spinach

Scientific Name: Atriplex polycarpa

Cattle spinach, also known as cattle saltbush and desert saltbush, is a shrub native to the southwestern United States, including southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and northern Mexico. It tolerates alkaline and saline soils, drought, and temperatures as low as 15F. Wildlife, such as quail, dove, mule deer, and rabbits enjoy cattle spinach; as well as livestock: cattle, sheep, and goats. Cattle spinach is primarily used for erosion control for mismanagement of rangelands and abandoned cropland. It’s found in alkaline plains and occasionally in rocky or gravelly slopes in desert or grassland, in communities with creosote bush and sagebrush. In California, it’s scattered along the San Joaquin Valley, and the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.

Host Plant: common scootywing, western pygmy blue, Mohave sootywing, San Emigdio blue, and the white-lined sphinx

Produced by S&S Seeds