Artiplex Confertifolia
Artiplex Confertifolia is commonly known as shadescale saltbrush. It is named saltbrush because of its resistance to saline conditions; it actually retains salt in its leaves. Artiplex confertifolia is a dicot and part of the chenopodeaceae or goosefoot family.
Artiplex Confertifolia is a common shrub in Utah growing on hot open hillsides. The first Artiplex Confertifolia was discovered in 1843 in Fremont, Utah near the Great Salt Lake.
Artiplex Confertifolia is common in the western United States and is found growing on hot hillsides in semi-desert regions. It grows in areas were there is only 4 to 8in of precipitation a year. It usually grows at elevations from 460m to 2100m. This plant Grows in full sun areas and cannot grow in the shade.
The Artiplex Confertifolia is a bush that Grows 15cm to 120cm tall and 30 to 170cm wide. The branches are very woody and rigid. The braches have spines on them for protection from grazing although this doesn't keep a lot of animals away. The leaves of the plant are a silver green color and are oblong in shape. Artiplex Confertifolia does not loose all of its leaves in the winter but retains most of them. The flowers of the Artiplex Confertifolia are a yellow color for males and a green yellow for females and bloom from April to July. The flowers are also associated with bracts that are a bright pink color. These bracts help the plant in germination of the seeds by creating a mechanical barrier. The fruit produced are a small brown color and contain one seed. The seeds have two wings on them and are distributed by wind.
Artiplex Confertifolia is used in the wild for Grazing, soil cover, and a habitat for birds. The Native Americans ground up the seeds and used this to make bread.
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