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Dwarf Saltwort
Salicornia bigelovii
  
0 Nurseries Carry This Plant

About Dwarf Saltwort (Salicornia bigelovii) 0 Nurseries Carry This Plant Salicornia bigelovii is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common names dwarf saltwort and dwarf glasswort. It is native to coastal areas of the eastern and southern United States, as well as southern California, Belize, and coastal Mexico (both the east and west coasts). It is a plant of salt marshes, a halophyte which grows in saltwater. It is an annual herb producing an erect, branching stem which is jointed at many internodes. The fleshy, green to red stem can reach about 60 cm in height. The leaves are usually small plates, pairs of which are fused into a band around the stem. The inflorescence is a dense, sticklike spike of flowers. Each flower is made up of a fused pocket of sepals enclosing the stamens and stigmas, with no petals. The fruit is an utricle containing tiny, fuzzy seeds. The southern part of the species range is represented by the Petenes mangroves of the Yucat n, where it is a subdominant plant associate in the mangroves. This plant is gaining scientific attention for its potential to serve as an oil crop that can be grown in desert environments and maintained with water containing high levels of salts. It is the source of salicornia oil. The plant is up to 33% oil. The oil contains up to 79% linoleic acid and is functionally similar to safflower oil. It can be used as a cooking oil and a replacement for more valuable oils in chicken feed. Domestic animals can be fed the plant as a forage. The plant could also be a source of biofuel.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Annual herb

Size
Size
0.3 - 2 ft tall

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 likely * ) SHOW ALL
*
Brephidium exilis Image
Western Pygmy Blue Brephidium exilisBrephidium exilis

Landscaping Information
Natural Setting
Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 9.4" - 17.0", Summer Precipitation: 0.17" - 0.28", Coldest Month: 49.0" - 56.6", Hottest Month: 64.8" - 73.1", Humidity: 0.94" - 16.90", Elevation: -23" - 285"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Dwarf Glasswort


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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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