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| Category: Shrub |
| Family: Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoots) |
| Origin: Southwest (U.S.) (North America) |
| California Native (Plant List): Yes |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: NA |
| Height: 8-10 feet |
| Width: 10-15 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Seaside: Yes |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 10-15° F |
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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 poor, saline, or alkaline soils. 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. The species 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 goe 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.
This information about Atriplex lentiformis 'Naomi' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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