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Teaching Marsh: Hidden Diversity - Plants
Plant diversity in the salt marsh is low due to salinity and low oxygen stress. Unique plant species adapted to salt marsh conditions are hidden among the dominant salt marsh grasses. Where rainfall exceeds evapotranspiration, salt-tolerant species give way to less tolerant species.
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Saltwort or Glasswort - Salicornia spp. Short succulent, pink to ruby red in fall - a salt-tolerant halophyte (salt-tolerant) living in areas where salts accumulate in upper marshes. They grow from 6 inches to 2 feet. Stored water in this plant allows it to maintain a critical water balance as it grows within salty soil; however, it would have difficulty growing in non-saline areas. The thick fleshy stems of all saltwort species can be pickled or preserved and are considered a delicacy (Silberhorn, 1982). |
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Sea oxeye - Borrichia frutescens. This is a halophytic perennial which has daisy-like yellow flowers in summer. It grows from 1-2 feet tall with fleshy leaves found in dense colonies within the high marsh or fringes of the saltbush community (Silberhorn, 1982). |
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Sea lavender - Limonium carolinianum. This is a perennial plant with dark green leathery leaves at the marsh surface, and a flower stalk with lavender or blue flowers which bloom in July - October. It is a less salt tolerant species and may use lignin in its cell walls to protect it from the saline environment. The flower stem grows 1.5 to 2.5 feet tall (Silberhorn, 1982). |
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Saltmarsh aster - Aster tenuifolius. In early summer this species is difficult to distinguish in dense stands of marsh grass until the white or magenta flowers appear in late summer. This is a species that is never abundant in plant communities and likely to be associated with saltmarsh cordgrass. It is a less salt tolerant species that uses creeping rhizomes to reproduce (Silberhorn, 1982).
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Silberhorn, Gene. 1982. Common Plants of the Mid-Atlantic Coast: A Field Guide, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 256 pages. |
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