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Salicornia maritima

(Slender Glasswort)

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Marsh Samphire, Slender Glasswort, Slender Grasswort

Description

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Family Chenopodiaceae

Herbs annual , subshrubs , or shrubs , rarely perennial herbs or small trees . Stems and branches sometimes jointed (articulate ) ; indumentum of vesicular hairs (furfuraceous or farinose ), ramified (dendroid), stellate , rarely of glandular hairs, or plants glabrous . Leaves alternate or opposite, exstipulate , petiolate or sessile; leaf blade flattened, terete , semiterete, or in some species reduced to scales . Flowers monochlamydeous , bisexual or unisexual (plants monoecious or dioecious, rarely polygamous) ; bracteate or ebracteate . Bractlets (if present) 1 or 2, lanceolate, navicular , or scale-like. Perianth membranous, herbaceous, or succulent, (1-) 3-5-parted; segments imbricate, rarely in 2 series, often enlarged and hardened in fruit, or with winged , acicular , or tuberculate appendages abaxially, seldom unmodified (in tribe Atripliceae female flowers without or with poorly developed perianth borne between 2 specialized bracts or at base of a bract) . Stamens shorter than or equaling perianth segments and arranged opposite them; filaments subulate or linear , united at base and usually forming a hypogynous disk, sometimes with interstaminal lobes ; anthers dorsifixed , incumbent in bud, 2-locular, extrorse , or dehiscent by lateral , longitudinal slits, obtuse or appendaged at apex. Ovary superior, ovoid or globose , of 2-5 carpels, unilocular ; ovule 1, campylotropous; style terminal , usually short, with 2(-5) filiform or subulate stigmas, rarely capitate, papillose , or hairy on one side or throughout. Fruit a utricle, rarely a pyxidium (dehiscent capsule) ; pericarp membranous, leathery, or fleshy , adnate or appressed to seed. Seed horizontal, vertical , or oblique , compressed globose, lenticular , reniform , or obliquely ovoid; testa crustaceous , leathery, membranous, or succulent; embryo annular , semi-annular, or spiral , with narrow cotyledons; endosperm much reduced or absent; perisperm abundant or absent.

Probably about 100 genera and 1400 species (depending on taxonomic opinions ) : mainly in arid areas, deserts, and coastal and saline habitats of N and S Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America; 42 genera (two endemic, two introduced ) and 190 species (21 endemic, six introduced) in China.

Many species of Chenopodiaceae are adapted to, and are major components of, arid or ruderal environments. They are often intimately involved with the daily life of people. For example, Beta vulgaris is one of the most important sources for sugar ; Chenopodium quinoa is a new high-protein crop ; Spinacia oleracea and Beta vulgaris are excellent vegetables; Dysphania ambrosioides and Salsola collina are used medicinally; seeds of Agriophyllum squarrosum are called "sand-rice" locally and are edible; seeds of Corispermum declinatum are used for making gin; the ash of Halogeton arachnoideus and some species of Salsola contains soda which is used in noodle-making; and Anabasis aphylla can be used as an insecticide . Many species are important as animal forage in desert, semidesert, and steppe regions, and some species make good windbreaks and soil binders. Haloxylon ammodendron has been used extensively in biological reconditioning of the desert.[1]

Genus Salicornia

Herbs, annual , fleshy , glabrous . Stems prostrate to erect , simple to many-branched, apparently jointed and fleshy when young, becoming not jointed and somewhat woody with age. Leaves opposite, connate basally, sessile, decurrent portions forming fleshy segments enclosing stem, fleshy; blade reduced to fleshy scales, margins entire, narrow, scarious . Inflorescences spikes, terminal on each stem, apparently jointed, each joint (fertile segment) consisting of 2 axillary , opposite, usually 3-flowered cymes embedded in and adherent to fleshy tissue of distal internode; flowers in each cyme arranged in triangle, the 2 lateral flowers meeting beneath central flower, flowers separated by persistent flaps of internodal tissue . Flowers usually bisexual , ± radially symmetric ; perianth segments persistent in fruit, usually 3, connate except for extreme tips , fleshy; stamens (0-) 1-2; styles 2. Fruits utriclelike; pericarp membranous. Seeds vertical , ellipsoid ; seed coat yellowish brown, thin, membranous, hairy ; perisperm absent. x = 9.

Species ca. 10: Northern Hemisphere, s Africa.

Salicornia is occasionally utilized as a vegetable in Europe, especially the tetraploid species. The seeds are rich in oils and experimental trials have been undertaken in the southwestern United States to harvest tetraploid species, especially S. bigelovii, on a large scale as a commercial source of vegetable oils.

Because of the succulence of the plants and the highly reduced morphology, it has been difficult to develop a satisfactory taxonomy of the genus. Dried specimens often cannot be determined with certainty, and are of little use in taxonomic studies owing to the loss of characteristics on drying. Salicornia is also difficult to cultivate satisfactorily because the plants appear to require a limited amount of salt and, the tetraploids in particular, occasional submersion in water, although they do not grow well in permanently waterlogged soils.

R. L. Jefferies and L. D. Gottlieb (1982) and S. L. Wolff and R. L. Jefferies (1987, 1987b), using isozyme data, have shown that the diploid taxa are largely homozygous inbreeding lines . There is for the most part good correlation between morphological and isozyme data, but it must be emphasized that the geographical coverage and the number of populations studied are limited.[2]

Physical Description

Species Salicornia maritima

Stems procumbent to erect , infrequently prostrate , green, often becoming red or purple, especially at apex of segments, around flowers, and at sepal tips , simple or with primary and secondary branches, rarely with tertiary branches except when damaged, 5-26 cm, ultimate branches usually short; leaf and bract apices obtuse to subacute , not mucronate . Spikes ± torulose , 0.7-5 cm, with (3-) 5-10(-14) fertile segments; bracts covering only base of cymes. Fertile segments (2d-4th in main spikes) 2.9-5.2 × 2.4-4(-4.3) mm, usually slightly longer than wide, widest distally, margins 0.2-0.3 mm wide, scarious . Central flowers semicircular distally, 1.5-2.6 × 1.4-2.4 mm, usually longer than wide, usually larger than lateral flowers and not reaching top of segment; anthers commonly not exserted, (0.1-) 0.2-0.3 mm, usually dehiscing within flowers. 2n = 18. [source]

Salicornia maritima was treated by P. C. Standley (1916) as S. prostrata, although his circumscription included only prostrate and procumbent individuals. He appears to have included erect plants in S. europaea. Salicornia prostrata is a Eurasian species which occurs mostly in inland habitats in its native range . [source]

The populations identified as Salicornia maritima from James Bay , in Ontario and Quebec, are morphologically similar to those from the Atlantic Coast, but their isozyme profile is identical to that of S. rubra. The report of S. maritima from Maine is based on Standley™s citation of S. prostrata, but it requires confirmation. The species occurs in New Brunswick adjacent to the Maine border . [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: July, August.

Habitat

Upper levels of salt marshes and sides of channels on coast, very rarely in salt springs inland; 0(-150) m [3].

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Annual

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Salicornia europaea auct. non L.
  2. Salicornia europaea var. prostrata auct. non (Pallas) Fern.
  3. Salicornia herbacea auct. non (L.) L.
  4. Salicornia prostrata auct. non Pallas
  5. Salicornia ramosissima auct. non J. Woods

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Salicornia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 121 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

S. acetaria · S. alpini · S. altaica · S. ambigua · S. amplexicaulis · S. anceps · S. andina · S. annua · S. appressa · S. arabica · S. arbuscula · S. australasica · S. australis · S. bergii · S. bidens · S. biennis · S. bigelovii (Dwarf Glasswort) · S. bigelowii · S. blackiana · S. bonariensis · S. borealis (Boreal Saltwort) · S. borysthenica · S. brachiata · S. brachystachya · S. californica · S. caspica · S. cinerea · S. corticosa · S. cruciata · S. depressa · S. disarticulata · S. doeringii · S. dolichostachya · S. dolichostachya subsp. pojarkovae · S. donaldsonii · S. emerici · S. europaea · S. europaea pachystachya · S. europaea prostrata · S. europaea subsp. brachystachya · S. europaea var. fruticosa · S. europea · S. fastigiata · S. foliata · S. foliosa · S. fragilis · S. frutescens · S. fruticosa · S. fruticulosa · S. gaudichaudiana · S. geniculata-annua · S. glauca · S. gracillima · S. herbacea · S. herbacea var. simplex · S. heterantha · S. indica · S. leiosperma · S. leiostachya · S. lignosa · S. longispicata · S. lutescens · S. lylei · S. macrostachya · S. macrostachyum · S. magellanica · S. maritima (Slender Glasswort) · S. meyeriana · S. mucronata · S. natalensis · S. neei · S. nitens · S. nodulosa · S. obscura · S. occidentalis · S. oliveri · S. pachystachya · S. pacifica · S. pacifica utahensis · S. pacifica var. utahensis · S. pallasiana · S. patula · S. peregrina · S. perennans · S. perennis · S. perfoliata · S. perrieri · S. persica · S. peruviana · S. pillansii · S. pojarkovae · S. praecox · S. procumbens · S. prostrata · S. pulvinata · S. pusilla · S. pygmaea · S. quinqueflora · S. radicans · S. ramosissima

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Gelin Zhu, Sergei L. Mosyakin & Steven E. Clemants "Chenopodiaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 352. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Peter W. Ball "Salicornia". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 258, 259, 321, 335,. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Salicornia maritima". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 383. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/2/2009