The bladder saltbush is one of the large group of Chenopods found throughout Fowlers Gap and indeed Australia. The bladder saltbush is quite common on Fowlers Gap, occuring pretty much without favour throughout the Station amongst the rest of the Chenpods.

Bladder saltbushes are erect or sprawling dioecious shrubs, up to about 1 m high. They get their name from the small bladder that forms as part of the fruit. There are 8 named subspecies of this plant.

Bark: stems are glabrous to woolly.
Leaves: 5-25 x 3-15 mm, more or less elliptic with a short stalk, usually entire, scaly grey-green, rather thick.
Flowers: female flowers occur in small axillary clusters. Male flowers are more numerous and occur in long spikes of small flowers.
Fruit: have 2 rounded "wings" 8-15 mm diameter with bladder appendages covering part or all of bracteoles or joined below or absent. Bladders are thin-walled, partly inflated and variously shaped and sizd depending on the subspecies.
Source: Frank Kutsche and Brendan Lay (2003). Field guide to the plants of outback South Australia. Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, South Australia, ISBN 0 7590 1052 8.
Phillip Moore (2005). A guide to plants of inland Australia. Reed New Holland, ISBN 1 876334 86 X.
Photos: Ian Roach

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