a term properly belonging to the related A. confertifolia. Other names some- 

 times applied to this well-known bush include buckwheat shrub, cenizo (white), 

 greasewood, salt sage, and wafer sagebrush. 



Fourwing saltbush is one of the most widely distributed of the west- 

 American species of Atriplex and grows, in greater or less abundance, from 

 South Dakota to western Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. It 

 is characteristic of dry, moderately saline or alkaline situations in the plains, 

 foothills, and Intel-mountain valleys of the creosotebush, sagebrush, and piiion 

 belts, but it is occasionally found up to elevations at least as high as 8,500 

 feet in southwestern Colorado, and possibly elsewhere. It is sometimes the 

 dominant species over extensive areas, and may occur in pure stands, but 

 generally grows singly and more or less scattered among other shrubs, herbs, 

 and grasses. The species is able to exist on land heavily impregnated with 

 white alkali and also withstands small amounts of black alkali, but it is not 

 entirely restricted to saline or alkaline areas, and is not necessarily an 

 indicator thereof. It prefers deep, sandy soil, occasionally grows on sand dunes, 

 and may be found on gravelly washes, mesas, ridges, and slopes, 



Fourwing saltbush is undoubtedly one of the most valuable forage shrubs 

 on arid sites in the Southwest and Intermountain regions. Its importance is 

 due to its abundance, accessibility, size, large volume of forage, evergreen 

 habit, high palatability, and nutritive value. Moreover, it exhibits hardiness 

 to cold and a remarkable ability to withstand drought because of its tremendous 

 root development, sometimes penetrating to depths of about 20 feet. 1 The 

 leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits are cropped by all classes of range livestock 

 except horses, which graze the species only in winter when other forage is 

 sparse. The general palatability of the herbage rates as fairly good to good 

 for cattle and as good for sheep and goats. Deer usually relish it, particularly 

 as winter browse. 



The seed crop, when produced, is devoured wholesale, but the high pala- 

 tabiiity of these parts is naturally a disadvantage to the species from a repro- 

 ductive standpoint. The stems are very brittle and, on some overgrazed areas, 

 the bushes are so broken down and weakened by grazing that they either fail 

 to produce a viable seed crop or else succumb entirely. If protected in the 

 summer, however, this shrub can successfully withstand reasonably heavy 

 winter use and, under favorable conditions, it reproduces freely from seed 

 and grows rapidly. It does not ordinarily shed its leaves in the winter, and 

 puts out leaves in the spring irrespective of rainfall. Hence it is of especial 

 value as browse when there is a lack of other forage. 



Various chemical analyses, as well as feeding tests, have shown that four- 

 wing saltbush has a high nutritive value. 3 3 Because of its nutritive qualities 

 and its ability to grow on poor and salty soils where grain, alfalfa, or tame 

 grasses will not grow, Jared G. Smith* recommends it as worthy of cultiva- 

 tion, stressing its superiority to the introduced shrubby Australian saltbushes 

 which lack its ability to withstand the severe winters of our western ranges. 



Ordinarily no injury to livestock results from grazing this species under 

 range conditions. There is evidence, however, that it occasionally causes bloat 

 when eaten too liberally, and that too concentrated feeding on this shrub 

 may cause scours in range cattle. It has occasionally proved poisonous to 

 sheep, and is reported as causing a sort of anemia at certain seasons. 5 The 

 marked alkalinity of its herbage, especially when growing in areas highly im- 

 pregnated with salt, suggests the desirability, wherever possible, of an addition 

 of grasses or other nonsaline feeds in utilizing fourwing saltbush areas. 



The grayish woody stems of fourwing saltbush are rigid and somewhat brit- 

 tle; the bark of the older stems is roughened by small longitudinal fissures. 

 The whitish scurfy twigs bear pale, grayish-green leaves which are often 

 somewhat clustered. The flowers appear in abundance from .Tune to August. 



1 Dayton, W. A. IMPORTANT WESTERN BROWSE PLANTS. TJ. S. Dept. Agr. Misc Pub 

 101, 214 pp., illus. 1931. 



2 Foster, L., Lantow, J. L., and Wilson, C. P. CHAMIZA AS AN EMERGENCY FEED FOR 

 RANGE CATTLE. N. Mex. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 125, 29 pp., illus. 1921. 



8 Bidwell, G. L., and Wooton, E. O. SALTBUSHES AND THSIR ALLIES IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 1345, 40 pp., illus. 1925. 



4 Smith, J. G. FODDER AND FORAGE PLANTS, EXCLUSIVE OF THE GRASSES. U. S. Dept 

 Agr., Div. Agrost. Bull. 2, rev., 86 pp., illus. 1900. 



5 [Doten, S. B.] PROGRESS MADE DURING THE TEAR ON STATION PROJECTS. PROJECT 22. 

 THE PROBLEM OF POISONOUS RANGE PLANTS. Nev. Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. Rept. 1921 : 10-12 

 illus. 1922. 



