''Tecticornia arbuscula'', the shrubby glasswort or scrubby samphire, is a species of 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 ...

, native to Australia. It is a shrub that grows to 2 metres in height, with a spreading habit. It has succulent swollen branchlets with small leaf lobes. The species occurs on shorelines in coastal or estuarine areas or in

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 domin ...

es, especially marshes subject to occasional inundation by the ocean. It has a patchy distribution across south coastal Australia, occurring in southern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. (as ''Sclerostegia arbuscula'') Seeds of the species are enclosed in a hard, vaguely pyramid-shaped

pericarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggr ...

which reveal 1.5 mm long, narrow seeds. these seeds appear as golden brown, transparent and unornamented. Originally published by Robert Brown under the name ''Salicornia arbuscula'', it was transferred into ''Sclerostegia'' by Paul G. Wilson in 1980, before being merged into ''

Tecticornia ''Tecticornia'' is a genus of succulent, salt tolerant plants largely endemic to Australia. Taxa in the genus are commonly referred to as samphires. In 2007, the genus ''Halosarcia'', along with three other Australian genera (''Pachycornia'', ...

'' in 2007.

References

arbuscula Caryophyllales of Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of New South Wales Flora of the Northern Territory Halophytes Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) {{Australia-eudicot-stub