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''Suaeda'' is a genus of plants also known as seepweeds and sea-blites. 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
A halophile (from the Greek word for 'salt-loving') is an extremophile that thrives in high salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more ...
plants).
There are about 110 species in the genus ''Suaeda''.
The most common species in northwestern Europe is
''S. maritima''. It grows along the coasts, especially in saltmarsh areas, and is known in Britain as "common sea-blite", but as "herbaceous seepweed" in the USA. 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
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
tidal swamps. Another variety of this
polymorphic species is common in tidal zones all around Australia (''Suaeda maritima var. australis'' is also classed as
''S. australis''). On the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea a common ''Suaeda'' species is
''S. vera''. This is known as "shrubby sea-blite" in English. It grows taller and forms a bush.
The name ''Suaeda'' comes from an oral (non-literary) Arabic name for the ''Suaeda vera'' species transliterated as ', ' or ', and it was assigned as the genus name by the 18th century taxonomist
Peter Forsskål
Peter Forsskål, sometimes spelled Pehr Forsskål, Peter Forskaol, Petrus Forskål or Pehr Forsskåhl (11 January 1732 – 11 July 1763) was a Sweden, Swedish exploration, explorer, oriental studies, orientalist, natural history, naturalist, and ...
during his visit to the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
area in the early 1760s.
[ Forsskål's book, ''Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica'', published 1775, in Latin, declares ''Suæda'' as a newly created genus name, with the name taken from an Arabic name ''Suæd'' and presents the species members of the new genus.
The genus includes plants using either or carbon fixation. The latter pathway evolved independently three times in the genus and is now used by around 40 species. ''S. aralocaspica'', classified in its own section ''Borszczowia'', uses a particular type of photosynthesis without the typical "Kranz" leaf anatomy.][ ]
Uses
In the medieval and early post-medieval centuries suaeda was harvested and burned, and the ashes were processed as a source for sodium carbonate for use in glass-making; see glasswort.
In Mexico, some species such as ''Suaeda pulvinata'', called ''romeritos'', are cooked in a traditional festive dish called either '' revoltijo'' or '' romeritos''. It is also eaten as wild greens ''( quelites)'', or as edible herbs grown as part of the crop-growing system called milpa.
Species
93 species are accepted.[
*'' Suaeda acuminata''
*'' Suaeda aegyptiaca''
*'' Suaeda altissima''
*'' Suaeda anatolica''
*'' Suaeda aralocaspica'' – formerly known as ''Borszczowia aralocaspica''
*'' Suaeda arbusculoides''
*'' Suaeda arctica''
*'' Suaeda arcuata''
*'' Suaeda argentinensis''
*'' Suaeda arguinensis''
*'' Suaeda articulata''
*'' Suaeda asphaltica'' – Asphaltic seablite
*'' Suaeda australis'' – Austral seablite
*'' Suaeda braun-blanquetii''
*'' Suaeda caboverdeana''
*'' Suaeda caespitosa''
*'' Suaeda calceoliformis'' – Pursh seepweed, broom seepweed, horned seablite
*'' Suaeda californica'' – California seablite
*'' Suaeda carnosissima''
*'' Suaeda conferta'' – beach seepweed
*'' Suaeda corniculata''
*'' Suaeda cucullata''
*'' Suaeda dendroides''
*'' Suaeda densiflora''
*'' Suaeda divaricata''
*'' Suaeda edulis''
*'' Suaeda eltonica''
*'' Suaeda esteroa'' – estuary seablite
*'' Suaeda foliosa''
*'' Suaeda fruticosa''
*'' Suaeda × genesiana''
*'' Suaeda glauca''
*'' Suaeda heterophylla''
*'' Suaeda ifniensis''
*'' Suaeda inflata''
*'' Suaeda iranshahrii''
*'' Suaeda jacoensis''
*'' Suaeda japonica'' ]Suaeda maritima
''Suaeda maritima'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common names herbaceous seepweed and annual seablite.
Description
It is a yellow-green shrub with fleshy, succulent leaves and green flowers. It grows ...
''
*'' Suaeda merxmuelleri''
*'' Suaeda mexicana'' – Mexican seepweed
*'' Suaeda micromeris''
*'' Suaeda microphylla''
*'' Suaeda microsperma''
*'' Suaeda monodiana''
*'' Suaeda monoica''
*'' Suaeda moschata''
*'' Suaeda multiflora''
*'' Suaeda nesophila''
*'' Suaeda neuquenensis''
*'' Suaeda nigra'' – bush seepweed, romerillo
*'' Suaeda nigrescens''
*'' Suaeda novae-zelandiae''
*'' Suaeda nudiflora''
*'' Suaeda occidentalis'' – western seepweed
*'' Suaeda olufsenii''
*'' Suaeda palaestina''
*'' Suaeda palmeri''
*'' Suaeda pannonica''
*'' Suaeda paradoxa''
*'' Suaeda patagonica''
*'' Suaeda pelagica''
*'' Suaeda physophora''
*'' Suaeda plumosa''
*'' Suaeda prostrata''
*'' Suaeda pruinosa''
*'' Suaeda pterantha''
*'' Suaeda puertopenascoa''
*'' Suaeda pulvinata''
*'' Suaeda rigida''
*'' Suaeda rolandii'' – Roland's seablite
*'' Suaeda salina''
*'' Suaeda salsa''
*'' Suaeda scabra''
*'' Suaeda sibirica''
*'' Suaeda spicata''
*'' Suaeda splendens''
*'' Suaeda stellatiflora''
*'' Suaeda tampicensis'' – coastal seepweed
*'' Suaeda taxifolia'' – woolly seablite
*'' Suaeda tschujensis''
*'' Suaeda turgida''
*'' Suaeda turkestanica''
*'' Suaeda tuvinica''
*'' Suaeda vera''
*'' Suaeda vermiculata''
References
USDA Plants Profile: genus ''Suaeda''GRIN genus ''Suaeda''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q159088
Halophytes
Amaranthaceae genera
Salt marsh plants
Taxa named by Peter Forsskål
Barilla plants