Amaranthaceae FAMILY

Atriplex cana

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitShrub

Growth—

Atriplex cana is a plant of arid and semi-arid regions of northern Asia. It can tolerate very cold weather so long as it also has hot summers, but can be killed by excessive moisture. Species in this genus generally succeed in full sun in any well-drained but not too fertile soil^[1]. Most species in this genus tolerate saline and very alkaline soils^[1].

Propagation

Seed - sow mid spring in a cold frame in a compost of peat and sand. Germinates in 1 - 3 weeks at 13°c^[2]. Pot up the seedlings when still small into individual pots, grow on in a greenhouse for the first winter and plant out in late spring or early summer after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a frame. Very easy. Pot up as soon as they start to root (about 3 weeks) and plant out in their permanent positions late in the following spring^[PFAF]. Cuttings of mature wood of the current season's growth, late autumn in a frame. Very easy. Pot up in early spring and plant out in their permanent position in early summer^[PFAF]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Atriplex+cana>

Pollinators

Wind

References

[1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[2]Growing from Seed. Volume 2. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
[3]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
[4]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
[PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎