''Tecticornia halocnemoides'', commonly known as shrubby samphire or grey glasswort,* is a species of

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

, salt tolerant plant

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It grows as a spreading or erect shrub up to fifty centimetres high. It was first published as ''Arthrocnemum halocnemoides'' in 1845, but transferred into ''Halosarcia'' in 1980, and 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. It is a highly variable species, with five published subspecies, some of which are themselves highly variable. These are ''T. halocnemoides'' subsp. ''halocnemoides'', ''T. halocnemoides'' subsp. ''caudata'', ''T. halocnemoides'' subsp. ''longispicata'', ''T. halocnemoides'' subsp. ''catenulata'' and ''T. halocnemoides'' subsp. ''tenuis''. There is also an unpublished putative subspecies, which is currently given the manuscript name ''T. halocnemoides'' subsp. Lake Grace (N. Casson G231. 10).

References

* * * halocnemoides Caryophyllales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Eudicots of Western Australia Halophytes Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck {{Australia-eudicot-stub