''Suaeda calceoliformis'' is a species of flowering plant in 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, making i ...

known by several common names, including Pursh seepweed and horned seablite.

Distribution

The plant is native to North America, where it can be found across most of the continent except for parts of the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern po ...

. It is 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. Th ...

, growing in areas of high

soil salinity Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...

and

alkalinity Alkalinity (from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is the capacity of water to resist acidification. It should not be confused with basicity, which is an absolute measurement on the pH scale. Alkalinity is the strengt ...

, such as

playas Playa (plural playas) may refer to: Landforms * Endorheic basin, also known as a sink, alkali flat or sabkha, a desert basin with no outlet which periodically fills with water to form a temporary lake * Dry lake, often called a ''playa'' in the so ...

salt flats Salt flats, Salt flat, Salt Flats, or Salt Flat may refer to: Geology * Salt pan (geology), a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals * Dry lake, an ephemeral lakebed that consists of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali sa ...

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

es,

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es and other wetlands, and the edges of roads that are salted in the winter.

Description

''Suaeda calceoliformis'' 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.Youngman, A. L. and S. A. Heckathorn. (1992). Effect of salinity on water relations of two growth forms of ''Suaeda calceoliformis''. ''Functional Ecology'' 6:6 686-92. 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 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. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

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 A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s and no petals. The fruit is an utricle that grows within the calyx.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentFlora of North AmericaWashington Burke MuseumPhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7630445 calceoliformis Halophytes Flora of Subarctic America Flora of Canada Flora of the Western United States Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Northeastern United States Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker Flora without expected TNC conservation status