Suaeda fruticosa
| Suaeda fruticosa | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Subfamily: | Suaedoideae |
| Genus: | Suaeda |
| Species: | S.fruticosa |
| Binomial name | |
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Suaeda fruticosa (L.) Forssk. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Suaeda fruticosa, commonly known as shrubby seablight, is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae (formerly classified under the Chenopodiaceae). It is a small shrub, with very variable appearance over its wide range. It is a halophyte, and occurs in arid and semi-arid saltflats, salt marshes and similar habitats. It can be used for soil remediation to reduce salinity and contamination by toxic metals. The species is synonymous with Suaeda vermiculata Forssk. ex J.F.Gmel. and Suaeda vera Forssk. ex J.F.Gmel.
Suaeda fruticosa is a low shrub growing to a height of about 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft). It is extremely variable throughout its wide range in height, growth habit, colouring, internode length, leaf shape, and the size and orientation of inflorescences and fruits. It is usually a rounded, much-branched bush but can be prostrate, climbing or straggling. It is densely-branched, the stems feeling very rough when the leaves are shed, pale green at first, becoming grey and fissured. The leaves are succulent, the smaller ones being long and narrow while the larger ones are elliptical. The flowers grow in clusters in the leaf axils. Some are bisexual, being drum-shaped and up to 1.5 mm (0.06 in) wide, with five succulent tepals fused to a third of their length. Others are entirely female, rather smaller with non-succulent tepals, fused for half their length, persistent and partly concealing the fruit. There are three stigmas. The perianth enlarges in the bisexual fruits but remains unchanged in the female fruits. Reproduction is mainly by seed, which are black and shining, slightly flattened, globular or drop-shaped and germinate more readily in fresh than in salt water. Both Indian and European specimens have a chromosome number of 2n=36.
The range of this species includes Cape Verde, the Canary Islands and the coasts of northern Africa, the Mediterranean region, the Atlantic coasts of southern Spain and Portugal, France and south-eastern England, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Afghanistan and the Indian sub-continent. It is a common and widespread species growing on sometimes-flooded alluvial land, drier areas, coastal regions, salt flats and salt marshes on soils that are sandy and soils that have a lot of clay. It also occurs in dry riverbeds and other saline locations in southern Africa in association with Tamarix usneoides and the grass Odyssea paucinervis.
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Wikipedia