Real World Gardener Podcasts

PLANT OF THE WEEK Number 2 Scientific Name: Atriplex nummularia Common Name:Old Man Saltbush Family: Chenopodiaceae Native Habitat: found in semi-arid and arid areas of Australia. Description:-grey-green leaves on a somewhat woody shrub. Dioecious-separate male and female plants. Height-Width: 3 x 2-5 m Flowering: small white flowers occur throughout most of the year. Fruiting:rounded fruits. Position: Full sun and tolerant of some shade.  Attributes: Dry tolerant once established due to the extensive deep root system that extends to 5m deep and 10m across. The leaves impart a salty flavour if your dry and crumble them and sprinkle on food. Possibly, listeners would be familiar with the term ‘old man saltbush’ or even have seen this plant growing somewhere. But I daresay, you would not have heards that parts of this plant are considered bush tucker. There are many bush tucker plants that are not that well known and this is another one of them. The Department of Primary Industries NSW recommends th