Suaeda maritima herbaceous seepweed; white sea-blite Chenopodiaceae SUMA* Q, i, j; K, pl; R, c, sm;

 

Suaeda maritima.Marilee Lovit.New England wild Flower Society.gobotany.newenglandwild.org

Suaeda maritima. Copyright © 2014 Marilee Lovit.New England wild Flower Society.gobotany.newenglandwild.org. (Accessed 5/2014).

Suaeda maritima is an annual, C3 herb (Jacobs 2001), to 50 cm prostrate to ascending, main stem and branches often faintly striped. 

Leaves alternate, fleshy, almost cylindrical, flattened above, linear, pale waxy green, to 5 cm long, 0.3 cm wide, becoming smaller upwards and on branches. 

Suaeda maritima.Arthur Haines.New England Wild Flower Society.gobotany.newenglandwild.org

Suaeda maritima flowers. Arthur Haines. Copyright © 2014.New England Wild Flower Society.gobotany.newenglandwild.org (Accessed 5/2014).

Flowers tiny, green, calyx 5-parted, lobes round-backed; inflorescence of short, dense axillary spikes; blooms Aug.-Oct. 

Fruit dry, 1-seeded, enclosed in 5-parted calyx, 0.3 cm, seeds black; fruits Sept.-Nov. 

Wetland status: OBL. 

Frequency in NYC: Infrequent. 

Origin: Eurasia. 

Habitat: High salt marsh or upper low marshes Notes Often found with Salicornia. Suaeda is paler, leafier and has alternate leaves and branches.  

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