Vascular Plants of North Carolina

Account for American Glasswort - Salicornia virginica L.

Section 6 » Family Chenopodiaceae

Author	L.
Distribution	Outer Coastal Plain, Outer Banks, and barrier islands. Maritime -- ME and Que. south to GA.
Abundance	Generally fairly common.
Habitat	Brackish and saline marshes, especially salt pannes; sandy salt flats, storm washovers, and margins of impoundments.
Phenology	Flowering and fruiting July-October.
Identification	American Glasswort is an annual, short-branched, fleshy-textured plant that typically grows 4-12 inches tall. The spikes of tiny flowers, each flower set in a joint or node, occur at ends of slender branches. It is best told from Dwarf Glasswort (S. bigelovii) by its thinner, less fleshy spikes, and with inflorescence scales that are blunt and lack a pointed tip (vs. having sharply pointed tips). It turns red in the late fall. The more common Perennial Glasswort (S. ambigua) has long, horizontal stems that can form mats, and numerous erect and often unbranched stems.
Taxonomic Comments	For many decades this plant went by the name of S. europaea, but unfortunately the type specimen of S. virginica (what we now call S. ambigua, the perennial species) turns out to be the present annual species.
Other Common Name(s)	Pickleweed, from the fleshy texture of shoots, which make a tasty, salty snack. Common Glasswort, Slender Glasswort
State Rank	S3? [S3]
Global Rank	G5
State Status
US Status
USACE-agcp
USACE-emp

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