Salicornia ramosissima J. Woods

Spice Inflorescence details In the field

Family: CHENOPODIACEAE

Genus: Salicornia

Sinònims: Salicornia europaea Auct.

Catalan common name: Cirialera herbàcia. Herba salada. Pollet. Salicorn. Salicornia.

Spanish common name: Alacranera. Alacranera de las marismas. Hierba de cristal. Hierba del jabón. Hierba salada. Lechuguinas. Pollo. Polluelo. Polluelo ramosos. Salicor pollo.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Lleida. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean

Uses and properties: Edible or foodstuffs.

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Terophyte.

Habitats: Litoral marshes and riparian. Marshes and salt marshes.

Characteristics: Annual herb found in saline soils. The branches are articulated in nodes and internodes, they are fleshy and green, except at the end of its cycle when it becomes reddish, the leaves are reduced to small scales. The flowers are not very eye-catching at all, they are grouped in threes at the nodes at the top of the branches. It forms real carpets, generally along the edges of torrents (dry river beds) when they reach the sea or along the sides of brackish water in places sporadically flooded by salt water. It can be distinguished from other similar genuses (Arthrocnemum , Sarcocornia) due to the fact of being annual and therefore not having a woody trunk: it is easy to uproot from the ground. It flowers in autumn.