Photo © Robert K. Moseley CLICK PHOTO FOR A LARGER IMAGE

Salicornia rubra A. Nels.

Red glasswort; Red saltwort

Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot family)

General Description: An erect to ascending, succulent, more or less reddish (at least by maturity) annual herb, freely branching from the base, and 5-25 cm tall. Stems are oppositely branched, fleshy, jointed at the nodes, and often brittle and breaking with a crackling noise when stepped on. The small, scale-like leaves are mostly 1-2 mm long. Flowers are embedded in the fleshy, terminal, usually numerous spikes. Individual flowers are inconspicuous and arranged in small groups above each bract; the central flower of each cluster exceeding the others. The calyx completely encloses the flower except for a small slit-like opening through which the stamens and style barely protrude.

Illustration.

Field Identification Tips: Red glasswort can be recognized by its fleshy, smooth, usually reddish habit, and oppositely branched, jointed stems, minute, scale-like leaves, and numerous terminal spikes of inconspicuous flowers.

Phenology: Flowers July through September.

Similar Species: The jointed stems and scale-like leaves readily separates red glasswort from all other chenopods in our flora except for Allenrolfea occidentalis (iodine bush), a perennial that can be distinguished by its alternate branches and woody base. Suaeda species can look superficially similar, but they all have alternate, linear leaves and flowers in the axils of small leaf-like bracts.

Photo © Mabel Jankovsky-Jones CLICK PHOTO FOR A LARGER IMAGE

Habitat: Moist, saline or alkaline soil of flats, shores, seepage areas, and ditches. In Idaho, populations of Red glasswort are usually associated with low cover of other goosefoot family species.

Global Distribution: Southern British Columbia and eastern Washington to Saskatchewan and western Minnesota, southward to Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Kansas.

Idaho Distribution: Southeastern Idaho, in Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Caribou, Franklin, and Oneida counties.

References:

Larson, G. 1993. Aquatic and wetland vascular plants of the northern Great Plains. General Technical Report RM-238. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO. 681 pp.

Soil Conservation Service. Western wetland flora. Field office guide to plant species. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, West National Technical Center, Portland, OR.