Flora of North America species comparison

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Sarcocornia pacifica

Sarcocornia perennis

American glasswort, Pacific swampfire, perennial saltwort, pickleweed, woody glasswort

chickenclaws, Pacific swampfire, pickleweed, woody glasswort, woody saltwort
Seeds

1.2–1.5 mm, pubescent;

hairs curved or hooked, longer hairs 1–2 mm.

1.1–1.3 mm, pubescent;

hairs strongly curved or hooked, most exceeding 1 mm, slender.
Woody

stems erect or procumbent, creeping and sometimes rooting at base, 10–50 cm;

stems sparingly to much-branched, younger branches with fleshy segments 5–20 × 2–4 mm.

stems prostrate to procumbent, creeping and usually rooting, often forming mats to 1 m diam.;

with numerous, erect stems, simple or sparingly branched, 10–20(–30) cm, larger fleshy segments 10–25 × 2–3 mm.
Terminal

spikes: larger with 12–40 segments, 20–85 mm.

spikes: larger with 7–14 fertile segments, 10–25 mm.
Fertile

segments: larger 2–4.5 × 2.5–3.8 mm;

central flowers 1.6–2.8 × 1–2.5 mm;

anthers 0.7–1 mm.

segments: larger ones 1.6–3.1 × 2.9–4.4 mm;

central flowers 1.3–2.8 × 1.3–2.7 mm;

anthers 0.8–1 mm.
2n

= 18.

Sarcocornia pacifica

Sarcocornia perennis
Phenology Flowering late summer–early fall. Flowering late summer–early fall.
Habitat Coastal salt marshes, tidal flats Salt marshes and tidal flats
Elevation 0 m (0 ft) 0 m (0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CT; DE; FL; GA; MA; MD; NC; NH; NJ; NY; RI; SC; VA; Mexico
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; OR; WA; BC; s Europe; w Europe; sw Asia; n Africa; s Africa
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Discussion

Sarcocornia pacifica appears to be endemic to the Americas, although its precise delimitation and distribution are unclear. Well-grown plants can be easily recognized by the long terminal spikes, but depauperate plants are difficult to distinguish from S. perennis. The name Salicornia virginica has often been applied to this species.

Salicornia ambigua Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 2. 1803, may be the earliest name for this species, although it could also be a synonym of Sarcocornia perennis. Until the taxonomy of the east-coast plants of the genus has been resolved, the application of Michaux’s binomial is uncertain.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Sarcocornia perennis has also been reported from the coasts of the northeastern United States, but most of these plants appear to be depauperate individuals of S. pacifica. However it is possible that some plants from New England are S. perennis, and further study is needed to determine the precise distinction between S. perennis and S. pacifica.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 386. FNA vol. 4, p. 386.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Sarcocornia Chenopodiaceae > Sarcocornia
Sibling taxa
S. perennis, S. utahensis
S. pacifica, S. utahensis
Synonyms Salicornia pacifica Salicornia perennis
Name authority (Standley) A. J. Scott: Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 75: 369. (1978) (Miller) A. J. Scott: Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 75: 367. (1978)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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