Gardners Saltbush

Gardners saltbush (Atriplex gardneri) is a spreading, low-growing evergreen subshrub 8 to 20 inches tall. It is much-branched, with branches producing adventitious roots where they contact the soil. Trunk bark is light gray, smooth, and somewhat “shreddy”.

Found on plains, badlands, and in valleys, usually occupying sites that are harsh and arid with widely fluctuating temperatures and high winds. It is most common on saline, poorly developed, or clay soils with a pH of 7.8 to 8.6. Soils are typically low in available phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium. Gardner saltbush also grows on sodic, silty, or sandy soils. It generally shares the same soils and ecotype as Fourwing Saltbrush, Shadscale Saltbrush and Mat Saltbrush.

Provides nutritious forage for livestock and wildlife species throughout its range. Antelope, mule deer, rabbits, and mourning doves browse Gardner saltbush. Its persistent leaves are an important winter food source. It is particularly important for sheep because it provides the minimum nutritional requirement for maintenance of gestating ewes. Although overgrazing may reduce plant vigor, winter grazing of up to 35 percent of total plant biomass allows for maintenance of Gardner saltbush populations.

Gardners Saltbush is an important species in reclamation seed mixes and if frequently used in the badlands of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Nevada in the mining industry.

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