盐角草属 yan jiao cao shu

Sarcocornia A. J. Scott.

Herbs or small shrubs. Stems erect or ascending, glabrous; branches opposite, fleshy, jointed. Leaves opposite, undeveloped, scale-like. Inflorescence terminal, pedunculate, spicate, cylindric. Flowers 1-3 borne on axil of a fleshy bract, sessile, appearing sunken into fleshy rachis, without bractlets, bisexual. Perianth 4- or 5-lobed, spongy and flattened apically in fruit, with top surface subrhomboid. Stamens 1 or 2. Style very short; stigmas 2, subulate. Fruit a utricle, enclosed by perianth. Seed vertical, compressed; embryo annular; perisperm absent.

Between 20 and 30 species: Africa, America, Asia, Europe: one species in China.

Lower Taxon

• Salicornia europaea Linnaeus