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

Atriplex holocarpa, Pop Saltbush, מלוח ספוגי

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

Flora of Israel online


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.



Flora of Israel online, Native plants, Palestine