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Atriplex lentiformis 'Naomi' (Quail bush) - A large dense evergreen shrub to 8 feet tall by half again as wide with attractive silver-gray leaves that are 1 inch wide, deltoid in shape and with toothed margins on the upper half. Notably the leaves of this selection are considerably larger than those typically found on this species. This selection is female flowering so bears its non-showy yellowish brown summer flowers in smaller more compact clusters than a male plant, but it really is the foliage that is the attractive feature of this plant.
Plant in full to part sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate infrequently to not at all once established. It is hardy to around 10° F. This is a tough shrub that tolerates poor, saline, alkaline soils and coastal conditions and rebounds well from a hard pruning. Quail bush makes a good screening plant or as a large foil for smaller plants in the dry garden, is useful for erosion control on slopes and can be clipped to shape and keep dense or even somewhat formally hedged. It is a host plant for Saltbush Sootywing and Pygmy Blue butterflies and is also edible for humans with the young soft shoots cooked as greens and the leaves adding a salty taste to salads or sandwiches.
Atriplex lentiformis is native to Arizona and California south to northern Mexico where it is often found in salt flats, within desert scrub and in coastal areas. The name for the genus originated in Latin as applied by Pliny the Elder to the edible species called oraches. The specific epithet means shaped like a lens in reference to the fruits. 'Naomi' is a female flowering selection of this species reportedly made from plants growing near Baker California by Thomas Leo Ogren. author of Allergy-Free Gardening: The Revolutionary Guide to Healthy Living. He selected this female plant as it does not produce pollen and so is an allergy-free selection of a plant species that is otherwise known to be problematic to allergy sufferers. It was presumably named for his daughter Naomi. Our thanks go out to Santa Barbara gardener Trish Odenenthal, who shared cuttings with us of this plant that she purchased at a Santa Barbara Botanic Garden plant sale. We grew it from 2022 until closing our nursery in 2025.
The information displayed on this page about Atriplex lentiformis 'Naomi' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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