General: Shadscale Saltbush (Atriplex confertifolia), or simply Shadscale, generally is a rounded shrub with gray-green glandular stems and leaves. Twigs are stiff and tipped with a spine. The seeds have two wings.

Shadscale often is a common or dominant component of shrubs communities on alkaline and saline soils (e.g., playa bottoms) in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone. When dominant, this species forms the basis for the Shadscale Scrub vegetation type.

Around Las Vegas, look for this habitat type along Corn Creek Road in Desert National Wildlife Refuge, and Basin and Range National Monument.

Family: Goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae).