ElviraMoon

Thanks for your submissions!
Some additional information on this shrub:
⁃ Leaf characteristics: filiform, narrow, alternate, green with silver/gray tinge,
⁃ Overall growth habit: bottom stems woody, erect evergreen shrub with erratic branching shape; plants unisexed (male & female plants)
⁃ Habitat: sandy, alkaline valleys, hillsides, drought resistant
- Nutritious forage for most browsing mammals.
- Ethnobotany: seeds ground for flour, top growth produces a yellow dye, leaves added to food impart a salty flavor.

Of note: Saltbush is salt, cold, and drought resistant. Plants are usually unisex (male or female). Some plants may change sex (from female to male) in response to environmental stress (cold, drought, heavy browsing, or prior heavy seed set) reverting to female sex when conditions improve. Most NA saltbush species hybridize easily and they evolve quickly. Atriplex canescens has several subspecies, and many hybrids are awaiting nomenclature classification. Even that is controversial because of their rapid hybridization.

@Krista: I don't have access to a good scanner.

Does anyone know of a source (herbarium, etc) I can contact to request help in identifying this plant?

I have one pressed into a book I had on me during the hike. I searched for any features that might be petals, but only saw what appeared to be sepals (calyx) and ovule. But not developed enough to be fruit. Hence my hypothesis that the flowers may have recently expired (petals gone), or that the flowers are tiny and inconspicuous, as well as brilliant red.

Yes, leaves do resemble asteraceae. They were very, very few on the stalks, and either red or green. The group growing on the lava bed were red like the rest of the plant; those in the more forested grassland area had a few green leaves.

The oddest, and most curious characteristic, is the growth habit of ringing the base of the trees in almost perfect circles. Which makes me suspect if they might be root parasites?

I tried to take better macro shots of this plant, but the light was bright and intense (mid-day to middle-afternoon).

Identified this plant in Wildflowers of Texas by Geyata Ajilvsgi. Shearer Publishing, 19?. Spurs at tip of seedpods caught in animal fur and dispersed. The young and fleshy seed pods can be pickled and eaten. They reputedly have an unpleasant odor, but I did not detect such from the small plant on my place. Given my early training in botany, I am curious about the evolutionary function of the glandular hairs (some sequester minerals from the soil, others contain compound to repel predators, etc) for this species (perhaps a volatile and resinous compound that imparts the odor?) and its possible medicinal value.

Both pods and seed were food sources for indigenous peoples, who also used used the pods for basket construction. The young pods can be added to soup to serve as a thickening agent.