''Suaeda taxifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

known by the common name woolly seablite. It is native to the coastline of southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, where it grows in

saline Saline may refer to: * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially US) for a salt works or saltern Places * Saline, Calvados, a commune in ...

habitat such as

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,

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

es,

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s, and scrub. It is quite variable in appearance.

Description

''Suaeda taxifolia'' is a generally a

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 ...

or subshrub spreading or growing erect to a maximum height near . It is hairless to densely hairy, and waxy in texture. It has woody lower stems and fleshy green to reddish upper stems. The succulent leaves are lance-shaped to nearly oval, measuring up to 3 centimeters in length. They vary in color from bluish to green to yellowish or reddish. There is usually a knobby bump at the base of each. Flowers occur in clusters along the stems, each cluster containing 1 to 3 flowers. Leaflike

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s accompany the clusters. The flower has no petals and is composed of a calyx of fleshy, rounded, hairy

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s. The fruit is an utricle that grows within the calyx.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentFlora of North AmericaPhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7630452 taxifolia Salt marsh plants Flora of Baja California Flora of California Natural history of Los Angeles County, California Natural history of Orange County, California Natural history of San Diego County, California Flora without expected TNC conservation status