Orache, Grass-leaved

Information on Grass-leaved Orache

Common Name: Grass-leaved Orache
Scientific Name: Atriplex littoralis
Irish Name: Eilifleog thrá
Family Group: Chenopodiaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Grass-leaved Orache could sometimes be confused with:

Orache, Babington's,

Grass-leaved Orache grows to about 100cm high. It bears tiny, greenish flowers of both sexes. The male flowers have five segments and five stamens; the female flowers have two large triangular bracts. These flowers are borne in long, branched, spikes which are leafy towards the base and on erect, ridged stems. The leaves are linear-lanceolate with the lower leaves short-stalked and the upper leaves unstalked. This plant grows on coastal sites and salt-marshes. It is a scarce, native annual found on some East and south-East coasts. It belongs to the Goosefoot family. 

I first saw this plant and photographed it at Lady's Island Lake, Co Wexford in 2012. 

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

Orache, Grass-leaved
Orache, Grass-leaved
Orache, Grass-leaved