saltbush

[sawlt-boosh]

noun

1. any of various plants or shrubs of the genus Atriplex, having mostly alternate leaves and clusters of inconspicuous flowers, often growing in saline or alkaline soil.

saltbush

/ ˈsɔːltˌbʊʃ /

noun

1. any of various chenopodiaceous shrubs of the genus Atriplex that grow in alkaline desert regions

Word History and Origins

Origin of saltbush¹

1860–65; salt ¹ + bush ¹, so called because they thrive in saline or alkaline soils

Example Sentences

There’s evidence that buckwheat and bush sunflower can take up lead, and saltbush can ensnare arsenic, Fang said, also name-checking corn, squash and cucumber for their ability to sequester contaminants such as dioxins.

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Surrounded by oil fields and almond and orange groves, the 93,000-acre preserve is an ecological oasis of open grasslands, saltbush shrubs, riparian wetlands, and native plants and wildlife.

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The silvery panels looked like an interloper amid a patchwork landscape of lush almond groves, barren brown dirt and saltbush scrub, framed by the blue-green strip of the California Aqueduct bringing water from the north.

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In the east, the sky glowed orange and crimson, and the light illuminated a sea of saltbushes, sweet grass and wind-rippled dunes.

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A traditional smoking ceremony, with green gum-leaves burned over a small fire, welcomed the remains back to the red soil and saltbush scrub of Lake Mungo.

Read more on Reuters