Israel native plants: Pop Saltbush

Atriplex holocarpa, Atriplex spongiosa, Pop Saltbush,
Hebrew: מלוח ספוגי, Arabic: رغل كلي الإثمار

Scientific name:   Atriplex holocarpa F.Muell.
Synonym name:   Atriplex spongiosa F.Muell.
Common name:   Pop Saltbush
Hebrew name:   מלוח ספוגי
Arabic name:   رغل كلي الإثمار
Family:   Chenopodiaceae, סלקיים


Life form:   Annual
Succulence:   bladderlike hairs – salt bladders – salt hairs – vesicular hairs
Leaves:   Alternate, entire, smooth
Flowers:   Green
Flowering Period:   May, June, July, August, September, October, November
Habitat:   Desert, Disturbed habitats
Distribution:   Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:   Australian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Atriplex , ατραφαξιϛ, ατραφαξυϛ, αδραφαξυϛ, ανδραφαξιϛ, a pot-herb like spinach, orach (Atriplex hortensis) from which the entire genus gets its name.

holocarpa, holos, ολοϛ, whole, complete; carpos, καρποϛ, fruit; undivided fruit.
spongiosa, Spongy, soft, or having the texture of a sponge.
In Hebrew, in Chaldee, and in Syriac, the word Maluach, מלוח, implies a brackish or salt-tasted plant. In the Septuagint, it is rendered ,άλιμα, the halimus.
The Hebrew word: מלוח, Maluach, comes from melech, מלך, salt,
The translation of the Hebrew word ‘maluach’, מלוח (from melech, מלך, salt), is ‘orache’ and not ‘mallow’.

  • The standard author abbreviation F.Muell. is used to indicate Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller (1825 – 1896), a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.