Dwarf Saltwort (Salicornia bigelovii)
Description
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.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Caryophyllales
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Family: Amaranthaceae
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Genus: Salicornia
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