Glassworts, Saltworts & Allies
Amaranth Family - Amaranthaceae
Perennial Glasswort Salicornia perennis(Arthrocnemum perenne, Sarcocornia perennis) Native to saltmarsh habitats throughout the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast of Europe as well as southern Africa and both North and South America. This species forms solid mats of green stems (often becoming reddish or orange-brown), arising from creeping, woody bases. Seeds covered with curved or hooked hairs.
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Shrubby Glasswort Salicornia fruticosa
(Arthrocnemum fruticosum, Sarcocornia fruticosa) Native to saltmarsh habitats from the Canary Islands, through the Mediterranean Region to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Information on how to tell this species from Glaucous Glasswort is incomplete and poorly explained in most literatures. According to Flora Europaea, Shrubby Glasswort (along with Perennial Glasswort) should have flowers of each cyme falling to leave a tripartite hollow in the stem segment; seeds greenish-brown to greyish; testa thin, membranous, covered with short conical or curved hairs. Shrubby Glasswort is further told from Perennial Glasswort by its lack of creeping, subterranean stems, glaucous colour and seeds covered with more or less conical hairs.
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Glaucous Glasswort Arthrocaulon macrostachyum
(Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, Salicornia macrostachya) Native to saltmarsh habitats from the Canary Islands, through the Mediterranean Region to the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan and tropical Africa. Information on how to tell this species from Shrubby Glasswort is incomplete and poorly explained in most literatures. According to Flora Europaea, Glaucous Glasswort should have flowers of each cyme falling to leave an undivided hollow in the stem segment; seeds black; testa hard, tuberculate. Stems glaucous, becoming yellowish or reddish.
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Annual Sea-blite Suaeda maritima
A native plant of intertidal mud and bare areas on saltmarsh throughout countries bordering the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Oceans and their associated coastal watersheds. A small, annual plant, often forming dense stands of unbranched, upright plants to around 30cm in height, but plants may also be branched and slightly sprawling. The petalless flowers are carried in small whorls at the bases of the linear, blunt-tipped, succulent leaves.
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Prickly Saltwort Salsola kali ssp. kali
Native to Macaronesia, the Atlantic coasts of Europe and coastal Mediterranean.
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Thorny Saltwort Noaea mucronata
Native to coastal habitats across North Africa and the Middle East to the Aegean region, Arabian Peninsula and east to Western Asia. A woody, spiny shrub with succulent leaves. Reddish, petal-like bracts develop after flowering and as the seeds develop.
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