Atriplex halimus, Atriplex hortensis.

Atriplex halimus Linn. Chenopodiaceae. Sea Orach.

A plant of the seashores of Europe and the Mediterranean countries and salines as far as Siberia. Sea orach is one of the few indigenous plants of Egypt that affords sustenance to man. It is mentioned by Antipharues as esculent; by Dioscorides as cooked and eaten; by Tournefort as eaten in Greece. The men of the Euphrates expedition often used this species as a culinary vegetable.

Atriplex hortensis Linn. Butter Leaves. Mountain Spinach. Orach.

Cosmopolitan. Orach has long been used as a kitchen vegetable in Europe. It was known to the ancient Greeks under the name of atraphaxis and Dioscorides writes that it was eaten boiled. It was known to the Romans under the name of atriplex. Orach was introduced into English gardens in 1548 and was long used, as it still is, in many countries to correct the acidity and the green color of sorrel. It is grown in three varieties.

Orach was known to Turner in England in 1538, who calls it areche, or red oreche. In 1686, Ray mentions the white and red, as mentioned by Gerarde in 1597. In 1623, Bauhin mentions the red, the white and the dark green. In 1806, three kinds are named by McMahon as in American gardens.

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.