Orach
Atriplex hortensis
Mountain spinach. A heat-tolerant, sometimes magenta-leafed goosefoot. Salt-tolerant relative of lamb’s quarters. Not spinach.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
What it is
Mountain spinach. A heat-tolerant, sometimes magenta-leafed goosefoot. Salt-tolerant relative of lamb’s quarters. Not spinach.
Edible portions
- young leaves
Absence of a portion from this list means it is not treated as food here — not that every other part is toxic.
Growing
- Climate. Annual
- Light. Full sun
- Soil. Average, even slightly saline
- Planting. Direct-sow. Can be tall.
- Harvest. Young leaves; older get dusty-seedy.
Preparation and culinary uses
- Salad and cooked green
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- No USDA FoodData Central nutrient profile is attached here. That is not a claim that the plant contains no nutrients.
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class B. Good foundation: enough unique information to exist as its own destination.