''Halimione'' is a plant

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

from the subfamily

Chenopodioideae The Chenopodioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae in the APG III system, which is largely based on molecular phylogeny, but were included – together with other subfamilies – in the family Chenopodiaceae, or goose ...

of the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae ( ) is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus '' Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, maki ...

. It is a sister genus of ''

Atriplex ''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''. The genus is quite variable and ...

'' and is included in that genus by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

Description

The species in genus ''Halimione'' are

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbs with silvery grey stems and leaves. Their stems grow prostrate, ascending or erect. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are opposite in lower part and alternate in upper part of the plants. The leaf blade is oblong with entire margins. Plants are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

. The spicate

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s consist of inconspicuous flowers. Male flowers comprise 4-5

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...

segments and 4-5

stamens The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...

. Female flowers have 2 totally concrescent, three-lobed

bracteole In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

s which enclose the ovary, a perianth is missing. The

pericarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

is tightly adherent to the inner side of the bracteoles, and also tightly adherent to the seed. The seed is vertically orientated, with a thin, membraneous seed coat. It is anatomically different from ''

'' (which has a brownish, thick and hard seed coat). '' Halimione pedunculata'' and '' Halimione verrucifera'' have a

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

number of 2n = 18, ''Halimione portulacoides'' 2n = 36.

Systematics

The genus has been first described in 1822 as ''Halimus'' by Karl Friedrich Wallroth (in ''Schedulae Criticae'', p. 117). But this name was illegitimate, as there existed already ''Halimus'' Patrick Browne (1756) in family

Portulacaceae The Portulacaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising 115 species in a single genus '' Portulaca''. Formerly some 20 genera with about 500 species, were placed there, but it is now restricted to encompass only one genus, the other genera ...

. replaced this illegitimate name by the valid name ''Halimione'' in 1938 (in: ''Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel'', 49, p. 121). Type species is '' Halimione pedunculata'' (L.) Aellen. During the following years, ''Halimione'' has sometimes been included in ''

''.

Molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

research by Kadereit et al. (2010) revealed that ''Halimione'' is a sister genus of ''Atriplex''. A 2019 study reached the same conclusion. ''Halimione'' comprises 3 species in 2 sections: * ''Halimione'' section ''Halimione'', with one species: ** '' Halimione pedunculata'' (L.) Aellen (Syn.: ''Atriplex pedunculata'' L.): A

halophyte A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores. ...

from western Europe to western Asia and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. * ''Halimione'' section ''Halimus'' (S.F.Gray) Sukhor., with 2 species: ** ''

Halimione portulacoides ''Halimione portulacoides'', commonly known as sea purslane, is a shrub found in Eurasia. Description The perennial plant grows to in height. The leaves are thick and oval-shaped, with a powdery surface. In northern temperate climates it flow ...

'' (L.) Aellen (Syn.: ''Atriplex portulacoides'' L.), sea purslane: at the sea shores of western and southern Europe, the mediterranean shores of North Africa to western Asia. ** '' Halimione verrucifera'' (M.Bieb.) Aellen (Syn.: ''Atriplex verrucifera'' M.Bieb.): From eastern and southeast Europe (

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) to Southwest Asia and Central Asia to China (Xinjiang)

Distribution

''Halimione'' is distributed in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, ranging from

Southwest Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...

, and

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

References

Gelin Zhu, Sergei L. Mosyakin & Steven E. Clemants: ''Chenopodiaceae''
''Atriplex verrucifera'' - online
In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Hrsg.): ''Flora of China'', Volume 5: ''Ulmaceae through Basellaceae.'', Science Press und Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing und St. Louis, 2003, . Gudrun Kadereit, Evgeny V. Mavrodiev, Elizabeth H. Zacharias & Alexander P. Sukhorukov: Molecular phylogeny of Atripliceae (Chenopodioideae, Chenopodiaceae): Implications for systematics, biogeography, flower and fruit evolution, and the origin of C4 Photosynthesis. In: ''American Journal of Botany'', Volume 97 (10), 2010, p.1664–1687. ''Halimione''
at Tropicos, accessed 2013-07-11. Uotila, P. (2011): Chenopodiaceae (pro parte majore). �
''Halimione''
In: Euro+Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1328664 Chenopodioideae Amaranthaceae genera