Suaeda calceoliformis
Encyclopedia
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. It is a halophyte
, growing in areas of high soil salinity and alkalinity
, such as playas
, salt flats, beach
es, marsh
es and other wetlands, and the edges of roads that are salted in the winter. It is an annual herb with waxy green to red or striped, bicolored stems growing up to 80 centimeters long. It may grow erect to prostrate in shape, the prostrate forms being more common in higher salinity substrates because they can retain more water. The fleshy, waxy leaves are up to 4 centimeters long, linear in shape, and lie nearly against the stem instead of spreading away from it. The inflorescence
is an elongated cyme of flowers shaped like a branching spike. It is dense with many tight clusters of flowers with leaflike bracts growing between them. There are three to five flowers per cluster, each with a calyx of horned sepal
s and no petals. The fruit is a utricle that grows within the calyx.
Amaranthaceae
The flowering plant family Amaranthaceae, the Amaranth family, contains about 176 genera and 2,400 species.- Description :Most of these species are herbs or subshrubs; very few are trees or climbers. Some species are succulent....
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. It is a halophyte
Halophyte
A halophyte is a plant that grows where it is affected by salinity in the root area or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores. An example of a halophyte is the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora . Relatively few plant species are...
, growing in areas of high soil salinity and alkalinity
Alkali soils
Alkali, or alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH , a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico-chemical properties mainly to the dominating presence of sodium carbonate...
, such as playas
Dry lake
Dry lakes are ephemeral lakebeds, or a remnant of an endorheic lake. Such flats consist of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali salts. Dry lakes are also referred to as alkali flats, sabkhas, playas or mud flats...
, salt flats, beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es, marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es and other wetlands, and the edges of roads that are salted in the winter. It is an annual herb with waxy green to red or striped, bicolored stems growing up to 80 centimeters long. It may grow erect to prostrate in shape, the prostrate forms being more common in higher salinity substrates because they can retain more water. The fleshy, waxy leaves are up to 4 centimeters long, linear in shape, and lie nearly against the stem instead of spreading away from it. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is an elongated cyme of flowers shaped like a branching spike. It is dense with many tight clusters of flowers with leaflike bracts growing between them. There are three to five flowers per cluster, each with a calyx of horned sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and no petals. The fruit is a utricle that grows within the calyx.