Salicornia is a genus of succulent, halophytic (salt tolerant) in the family Amaranthaceae that grow in , on beaches, and among . Salicornia species are native to North America, Europe, central Asia, and southern Africa. Common names for the genus include glasswort, pickleweed, picklegrass, and marsh samphire; these common names are also used for some species not in Salicornia. Salicornia , Integrated Taxonomic Information System, serial number 20646. To French speakers in Atlantic Canada, they are known colloquially as tétines de souris ('mouse tits'). The main European species is often eaten, called marsh samphire in Britain, and the main North American species is occasionally sold in grocery stores or appears on restaurant menus as sea beans, samphire greens, or sea asparagus.
All stems terminate in spike-like apparently jointed . Each joint consists of two opposite minute bracts with a (1-) 3-flowered cyme tightly embedded in cavities of the main axis and partly hidden by the bracts. The flowers are arranged in a triangle, both lateral flowers beneath the central flower. The hermaphrodite are more or less radially symmetric, with a perianth of three fleshy united nearly to the apex. There are 1–2 and an ovary with two stigmas.
The perianth is persistent in fruit. The fruit wall (pericarp) is membranous. The vertical seed is ellipsoid, with yellowish brown, membranous, hairy seed coat. The seed contains no perisperm (feeding tissue).
Like most members of the subfamily Salicornioideae, Salicornia species use the C3 carbon fixation pathway to take in carbon dioxide from the surrounding atmosphere.
The genus probably originated during the Miocene in the region between the Mediterranean Basin and Central Asia. Evolving from within the perennial and frost-sensitive former genus Sarcocornia (now shown to be paraphyletic), the annual, strongly inbreeding and frost-tolerant Salicornia diversified during the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene. By events of intercontinental dispersals, they reached southern Africa twice and North America at least three times. Two tetraploid lineages expanded rapidly, with the ability to colonize lower belts of the than their diploid relatives. Inbreeding and geographical isolation led to a large number of reproductive isolated species that are only weakly differentiated.
The taxonomic classification of this genus is extremely difficult (with one paper calling it a "taxonomic nightmare"). The determination of species seems almost impossible for non-specialists. The reasons for these difficulties are the reduced habit with weak morphological differentiation and high phenotypic variability. As the succulent plants lose their characteristics while drying, herbarium specimens often cannot be determined with certainty and are less suited for taxonomic studies.
Molecular phylogenetic studies have regularly revised the circumscription of the genus. It was considered distinct from Sarcocornia in 2007 and 2012 studies. A 2017 study resulted in Sarcocornia being sunk into Salicornia – despite being the first perennial, substantially increasing the size of the genus, which was divided into four subgenera.
They grow in coastal salt marshes and in inland salty habitats like shores of . Salicornia species are and can generally tolerate immersion in salt water (hygrohalophytes).
In Hawaii, where it is known as "sea asparagus", it is often blanched and used as a topping for salads or accompaniment for fish.
In addition to S. europaea, the seeds of S. bigelovii yield an edible oil. S. bigelovii
Umari keerai ( S. brachiata) is cooked and eaten or pickled. It is also used as fodder for cattle, sheep, and goats. Salicornia, oil-yielding plant for coastal belts, The Hindu In Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka, it is used to feed donkeys.
On the east coast of Canada, the plant is known as "samphire greens" and is a local delicacy. In southeast Alaska, it is known as beach asparagus. In Nova Scotia, Canada, they are known as crow's foot greens. In British Columbia, they are known as sea asparagus. In the United States, they are known as "sea beans" when used for culinary purposes. Other names include sea green bean, sea pickle, and marsh samphire. Cook's Thesaurus: Sea Vegetables , retrieved 2012-10-08.
In India, researchers at the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute developed a process to yield culinary salt from S. brachiata. The resulting product is known as vegetable salt and sold under the brand name Saloni.
Dehydrated, pulverized Salicornia is sold under the brand name "Green Salt" as a salt substitute claimed to be as salty in taste as table salt, but with less sodium.Florence Fabricant, "To Sprinkle: Add Some Green To Your Salt Lineup", New York Times, August 11, 2021, p. D3; online version "Add Green to Your Salt Lineup" August 9, 2021Green Salt web site, [10]
Umari keerai is used as raw material in paper and board factories.
Experimental fields of Salicornia have been planted in Ras al-Zawr (Saudi Arabia), Eritrea (northeast Africa), and Sonora (northwest Mexico) aimed at the production of biodiesel. The company responsible for the Sonora trials (Global Seawater) claims between 225 and 250 of BQ-9000 biodiesel can be produced per hectare (approximately 2.5 acres) of salicornia, and is promoting a $35 million scheme to create a salicornia farm in Bahia de Kino.
Plant stem and of S. brachiata plants have a high cellulose content (ca. 30 wt. %), whereas tender stem tips exhibit a low cellulose content (9.2 wt. %). S. brachiata revealed the dominance of rhamnose, arabinose, mannose, galactose, and glucose, with meager presence of ribose and xylose in their structural polysaccharide.
Species
Distribution and habitat
Ecology
Uses
Culinary
Pharmacological research
Environmental uses
Industrial use
Historical
Contemporary
See also
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