Synonym: Atriplex grayi.  Grayia spinosa.   (Spiny Hopsage)
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert. Rocks, openings. Spring.
Hidden Valley Trail, Utah, May 10, 2007.

At first glance this shrub might be taken for its close cousin, Four-Winged Saltbush.  But a careful look shows leaves, seeds pods, and stems to be quite different.  Atriplex grayi also is far less common than the ubiquitous Atriplex canescens.  When it does occur, however, Atriplex grayi is showy and can, as the picture at the bottom of this page shows, be numerous.

The plant was first named Chenopodium spinosum by William Hooker in 1834; Christian Moquin-Tandon renamed it Grayia spinosa in 1849; and Collotzi renamed it Atriplex grayi.  Asa Gray, along with his teacher, John Torrey, and his pupil, Sereno Watson, dominated 19th century botany.  (More biographical information.)

Synonym: Atriplex grayi.  Grayia spinosa.   (Spiny Hopsage)
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert. Rocks, openings. Spring.
Hidden Valley Trail, Utah, May 10, 2007.

Maturing seed pods are green, yellow, and pink.

Leaves are typically oval and about twice as long as wide -- best seen in the photo immediately below.  But notice the new growth in the top photograph at left next to the ruler.  These spring leaves are three or four times as long as they are wide and are two or three times as long as last year's leaves.  Moisture in the winter and spring of 2006-2007 was actually below normal but was very heavy in the early fall and then was evenly spaced through the winter.  These conditions produced excellent growth for many plants, including Atriplex grayi which had grown six to ten inches by early May.  In some cases this growth exceeded the growth of the previous ten years. 

Synonym: Atriplex grayi.  Grayia spinosa.   (Spiny Hopsage)
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Semi-desert. Rocks, openings. Spring.
Hidden Valley Trail, Utah, May 10, 2007 and October 6, 2009.

The top photograph at left shows the lush green leaves of Atriplex grayi. Older leaf tips often have white hairs, best seen in the very center, top right, and bottom of the top photograph. 

Although spiny stems show here and there in the leafy shrubs (see the top photograph, upper left), it takes a leafless shrub to really show how spiny Atriplex grayi truly is.