Shadscale, sometimes called spiny saltbush and saltsage. is a compact, spiny 

 shrub growing typically in dense clumps, usually 1 to 2 (occasionally more 

 than 3) feet high. It is one of the most important native species in the 

 Atriplex genus, which belongs to the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae). The 

 name confertifolia literally means crowded leaves. 



Shadscale ranges from southern Idaho to Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, 

 northern Mexico, eastern California, and southeastern Oregon, being most 

 prominent in Utah and Nevada, but abundant also over large arear in other 

 portions of its range. Typically it is a plant of the dry plains and hillsides up 

 to elevations of about 6,000 feet, although it occurs up to 8,000 feet. It is 

 found in the creosotebush, sagebrush, and juniper-piiion belts, associated fre- 

 quently with sagebrush, rabbitbrush, jointfir (Mormon-tea), winterfat, cactus, 

 and various semidesert bunchgrasses. This shrub is characteristically a domi- 

 nant species over vast expanses of arid range. 



Shadscale frequently grows along the edges of the dry alkaline lake bottoms 

 characteristic of many desert valleys, and extends up the slopes, benches, and 

 dry washes well into the foothills of the surrounding mountains ; with grease- 

 wood, it often inhabits soils that are strongly impregnated with alkali. It 

 thrives well on moderately alkaline and heavy clay soils, and grows abundantly 

 in sandy and gravelly areas. 



Shadscale is grazed chiefly in the fall, winter, and spring and is palatable 

 to all classes of livestock. Although ordinarily less palatable than certain of 

 its plant associates, particularly grasses and black sagebrush (Artemisia, nova), 

 its abundance on winter ranges makes it very important as forage. The seeds 

 are the most palatable part of the plant and probably the most nutritious; 

 the leaves are also relished. These often fall to the ground during the late 

 autumn, collect in depressions under the bushes, and thus are available to 

 livestock when they enter the winter ranges. After the seeds and leaves are. 

 shed the spine-pointed branches become rigid, persisting for several years and 

 affording considerable protection against grazing animals. 1 During moist: 

 weather the branches become softened and are moderately cropped. 



Overgrazing on much of the winter range has greatly decreased the abun- 

 dance of highly palatable plants and, consequently, has increased the demands 

 on shadscale and other less desirable species. On excessively grazed ranges 

 shadscale often is browsed to the ground and the rough, coarse forage thus 

 consumed frequently causes sore mouth, especially among young larnbs. 

 Weakened, hedged, and dead plants on some overgrazed areas are evidence that 

 shadscale suffers from overuse. Prolonged drought causes heavy mortality. 



Although stands of this plant are being maintained fairly well, little or 

 no reproduction is taking place in some areas. A recent range survey con- 

 ducted under the auspices of the Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment 

 Station, Utah, revealed no shadscale plants younger than 15 years on a heavily 

 grazed area in western Utah. An abundance of good seed is produced by 

 vigorous plants during years of average growth, but the Wyoming Agricultural 

 Experiment Station 2 has failed to secure reproduction under artificial, condi- 

 tions. Shadscale, even though it provides but a partial vegetative cover, aids 

 particularly in alkaline areas, in keeping the soil in place. Where shadscale 

 plants occupy soil hummocks overstocking or range depletion may be suspected. 



Shadscale typically grows as lone bushes or clumps of bushes 1 or 2 feet, 

 sometimes as much as 8 feet, in diameter. The stems are woody, round 

 (terete), stiff, rather stout, and most of them end in spiny points. The 

 numerous, rounded or oval, short-stalked, thickish leaves are crowded on the 

 stems. The leaves are one-fourth to three- fourths of an inch long, usually 

 blunt at the apex, and wedge-shaped at the base. Like most saltbushes of the 

 desert regions, shadscale is ash-gray or almost white, due to the scurfy cover- 

 ing on the leaves and young stems. The tiny flowers are borne in small clusters 

 in the leaf axils near the ends of the branches. Male (staminate) and female 

 (pistillate) flowers grow on separate plants. The female flowers have two 

 thick, scurfy bracts united at the base which enlarge from one-fourth to 

 three-eighths of an inch in diameter and tightly enclose the seed. The bracts 

 are not winged or notched, but are broadly oval and rounded at the tips. 



1 Jepson, W. L. A FLORA OF CALIFORNIA. 7 pts., illus. San Francisco. 1909-22. 



2 Nelson, E. NATIVE AND INTRODUCED SALTBUSHES. THREE SEASONS' TRIALS. Wvo. Agr. 

 Expt. Sta. Bull. 63, 19 pp., illus. 1904. 



