Atriplex halimus L.
An erect, much branched, glaucous, shrubby perennial, up to 2.5 m tall. Leaves short-stalked, greyish, ovate-rhombic to elliptical, leathery, entire, up to 4 cm long. Flowers clustered, tiny, yellowish, forming leafless terminal panicles. Male flowers with 5 perianth segments; female ones with two kidney-shaped bracteoles (called valves), which enlarge in fruit, reaching up to 6 mm across, enclosing the seeds. Seeds 1 to 2 mm across.
Local: Not very common in Gibraltar. Found along the East Side, between Europa Point and the southern end of Sandy Bay, especially around Governor’s Cottage, and on the south-eastern cliffs up to Martin’s Cave.
Global: Found in southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia.
Flowers from June, July, August, September, October to November (December).
Grows on coastal sands and rocks, and on salty soil inland.