Atriplex hortensis, also known as Garden Orache, Red Orach, Mountain Spinach, French Spinach, or simply "orache" or arrach, is a hardy, annual plant

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

, with an erect, branching stem, varying in height from two to six feet, according to the variety and soil. The leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are variously shaped, but somewhat oblong, comparatively thin in texture, and slightly acid to the taste, the flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s are small and obscure, greenish or reddish, corresponding in a degree with the color of the foliage of the plant; the seeds are small, black, and surrounded with a thin, pale-yellow membrane.