''Frankenia palmeri'' is a species of flowering plant in the frankenia family,
Frankeniaceae
''Frankenia'' (sea heath) is the only genus in the Frankeniaceae family of flowering plants. Other genera have been recognized within the family, such as ''Anthobryum'', ''Hypericopsis'' and ''Niederleinia'', but molecular phylogenetic studies ...
, known by the common name Palmer's seaheath, Palmer's frankenia, or yerba reuma. It is native to the coastline of northwestern Mexico, as well as
San Diego County, California
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...
, in the United States. It is a plant of sand dunes, beaches,
alkali flats, and
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
es, where it thrives due to its adaptation to
saline soil
Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...
s. This is a small, tangling
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
less than a meter tall with spreading stems lined with clusters of knobby, fleshy leaves. Toward the ends of branches flowers appear among the leaf clusters. Each flower has white petals 3 or 4 millimeters long, often washed with pink toward the throat and with pink
anthers
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...
. The plant is becoming increasingly rare as its habitat on valuable coastal land is consumed for development.
California Native Plant Society Rare Plants Profile
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References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
palmeri
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