Saltbush scrub is a
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily i ...
plant community
A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant ...
and vegetation type, found above and beyond the
alkali sink Shadscale scrub Shadscale scrub is a plant community and vegetation type that occurs in upper elevations of the Mojave Desert and lower elevations of the Great Basin ecoregion or biome, characterized by salt tolerant plants— halophytes.
It is located at higher ...
type.
Halophyte
A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. Th ...
plants must deal with salt in the soil, but in less high concentrations than are found in the alkali sink shadscale scrub zone.
[Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, p 16] Alkali sink vegetation grades into saltbrush scrub.
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Flora
Common species include members of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus '' Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...
), such as:[
* four-wing saltbrush ('']Atriplex canescens
''Atriplex canescens'' (or chamiso, chamiza, four-wing saltbush) is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae native to the western and midwestern United States.
Description
''Atriplex canescens'' has a highly variable form, and ...
'')
*shadscale (''Atriplex confertifolia
''Atriplex confertifolia'', the shadscale or spiny saltbush, is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, which is native to the western United States and northern Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United M ...
'')
*cattle spinach, or all-scale ('' Atriplex polycarpa'').
The shadscale scrub community vegetation also has these family Chenopodiaceae species, but is found at higher elevations.[
]
See also
* Shadscale scrub plant community
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*
References
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Plant communities of California
Halophytes