Читать книгу Pacific Seaweeds - Louis Druehl - Страница 44

Pacific Seaweeds

44 | Shore plants

Sarcocornia pacifica Pickleweed

Angiospearmae Family Amaranthaceae

Description

Sarcocornia (Greek=fleshy horn, a reference to shape) pacifica is a low-lying perennial herb that grows from a branching rhizome. Stems sprawl along the ground, growing up to 1 m (3 ft) long, with tiny opposite scales that are the highly reduced leaves. Brown-purple flowers grow in groups of three along fleshy spikes 1–4 cm (0.4–1.6 in) long. The young stalks are harvested as sea asparagus and can be found at many a coastal farmers’ market or health food specialty store. This species was formerly known as Salicornia pacifica. Sarcocornia has been test farmed in Saudi Arabia and Mexico. The Saudi test plots were 50-hectare (123-acre) circles of desert that were sprin-kled with seawater. Target products are vegetable oil, biodiesel and fodder for livestock.

Habitat & Distribution

Pickleweed is a common coastal species found on beaches, tidal flats and salt marshes that are not highly exposed to waves. Distribution in our region is from Alaska to Mexico.

Sarcocornia pacifica. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons