Suaeda is a genus of plants also known as seepweeds and seablites. Most species are confined to saline or alkaline soil habitats, such as coastal salt-flats and tidal wetlands. Many species have thick, succulent leaves, a characteristic seen in various plant genera that thrive in salty habitats (halophile

Halophile

Halophiles are extremophile organisms that thrive in environments with very high concentrations of salt. The name comes from the Greek for "salt-loving". While the term is perhaps most often applied to some halophiles classified into the Archaea domain, there are also bacterial halophiles and some...

 plants).

There are about 110 species in the Suaeda genus. The most common one in northwestern Europe is Suaeda maritima. It grows along the coasts, especially in saltmarsh areas, and is known in English as common seablite. It is also common along the east coast of North America from Virginia northward. One of its varieties is common in tropical Asia on the land-side edge of mangrove tidal swamps. Another variety of this polymorphic

Polymorphism (biology)

Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...

 species is common in tidal zones all around Australia (Suaeda maritima var. australis is also classed as Suaeda australis). On the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea a common Suaeda species is Suaeda vera (synon. S. fruticosa). This is known as "shrubby sea-blite" in English, in distinguishment from common sea-blite. It grows taller and forms a bush. In the medieval era it was harvested and burned and the ashes processed as a source for sodium carbonate for use in glass-making; see also glasswort

Glasswort

Salicornia is a genus of succulent, halophyte plants that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. Salicornia species are native to North America, Europe, South Africa, and South Asia...

 and saltwort

Saltwort

Saltwort is a common name for several genera of flowering plants, including:*Batis, family Bataceae*Salicornia and Salsola, family Amaranthaceae*Salsola kali, prickly saltwort...

.

The name Suaeda comes from an old Arabic name for the Suaeda vera species and it was assigned as the genus name by the 18th century taxonomist Peter Forsskal

Peter Forsskål

Peter Forsskål, sometimes spelled Pehr Forsskål, Peter Forskaol, Petrus Forskål or Pehr Forsskåhl, was a Swedish explorer, orientalist, naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus.-Early life:...

.

Selected species:

• Suaeda aegyptiaca
• Suaeda aralocaspica
  Suaeda aralocaspica
  Suaeda aralocaspica is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae, that is restricted to the deserts of central Asia. It is a halophyte, that uses carbon fixation, but lacks the characteristic leaf anatomy of other plants. It is a monoecious, annual, that grows to a height of between...
  
  - formerly known as Borszczowia aralocaspica, a central Asian halophyte
• Suaeda asphaltica - Asphaltic seablite
• Suaeda australis
  Suaeda australis
  Suaeda australis ' is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae, native to Australia. It grows to between 0.1 and 0.9 metres in height, with a speading habit and branching occurring from the base. The leaves are up to 40mm in length and are succulent, linear and flattened. They are light...
  
  - Austral seablite
• Suaeda calceoliformis
  Suaeda calceoliformis
  Suaeda calceoliformis is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by several common names, including Pursh seepweed and horned sea-blite. It is native to North America, where it can be found across most of the continent except for parts of the American southeast...
  
  - Pursh seepweed, broom seepweed, horned seablite
• Suaeda californica
  Suaeda californica
  Suaeda californica is a rare species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name California seablite. It is endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California, where it is known from a few occurrences in the marshes around Morro Bay....
  
  - California seablite
• Suaeda conferta - beach seepweed
• Suaeda corniculata - jiao guo jian peng
• Suaeda esteroa
  Suaeda esteroa
  Suaeda esteroa is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name estuary seablite. It is a yellow-green to reddish subshrub with fleshy, succulent leaves. It is native to the estuaries and salt marshes of coastal southern California and Baja California.-External...
  
  - estuary seablite
• Suaeda glauca - jian peng
• Suaeda linearis - annual seepweed, narrow-leaf seablite
• Suaeda maritima - herbaceous seepweed
• Suaeda mexicana - Mexican seepweed
• Suaeda moquinii - Mojave seablite
• Suaeda nigra
  Suaeda nigra
  Suaeda nigra is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common names bush seepweed and Mojave sea-blite. It is native to much of western North America, from central Canada through the western United States, into Mexico...
  
  - bush seepweed, romerillo
• Suaeda occidentalis - western seepweed
• Suaeda palaestina
• Suaeda rolandii - Roland's seablite
• Suaeda salina
  Suaeda salina
  Suaeda salina is a species of plant in the Amaranthaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is cold desert.-References:* Craven, P. & Loots, S. 2004. . Downloaded on 23 August 2007....
  
  
• Suaeda suffrutescens - desert seepweed
• Suaeda tampicensis - coastal seepweed
• Suaeda taxifolia
  Suaeda taxifolia
  Suaeda taxifolia is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name woolly sea-blite. It is native to the coastline of southern California and Baja California, where it grows in saline habitat such as salt marshes, beaches, dunes, and scrub. It is quite variable in...
  
  - woolly seablite
• Suaeda torreyana - iodine weed
• Suaeda vera - alkali seepweed