Salicornia bigelovii

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Caryophyllales

Familia: Amaranthaceae s.l.
Cladus: Chenopodiaceae s.str.
Subfamilia: Salicornioideae
Tribus: Salicornieae
Genus: Salicornia
Species: Salicornia bigelovii
Name

Salicornia bigelovii Torr., Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound., Bot. [Emory] 184. 1859 (1858), (as "Bigelovii")

Type: On the beach at Brazos Santiago, May. Schott s.n. Holotype: NEBC NEBC00057676. Isotype: NY00324369.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Northern America
Eastern Canada
Nova Scotia
Northeastern U.S.A.
Connecticut (s.), Maine (s.e.), Massachusetts (e.), New Jersey (e.), New York (s.e.), Rhode Island
Southwestern U.S.A.
California (s.w.)
South-Central U.S.A.
Texas
Southeastern U.S.A.
Alabama (s.), Delaware, Florida, Georgia (s.e.), Louisiana (s.), Maryland (e.), Mississippi (s.), North Carolina (e.), South Carolina, Virginia (e.)
Mexico
Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Guerrero, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatan
Southern America
Caribbean
Anguilla, Bahamas, Cuba, Guadeloupe, [North St. Martin] Hispaniola, Netherlands Antilles, [South St. Martin] Puerto Rico

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Torrey, J. 1859. Botany of the Boundary. In: Emory, W.H. Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey. Vol. 2(1): 27–270, pl. 1–61. BHL Reference page. : 184

Additional references

Ball, P.W.:
eFloras 2008. Salicornia bigelovii in Flora of North America . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.

Links

Hassler, M. 2018. Salicornia bigelovii. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2018. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2018 May 16. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2018. Salicornia bigelovii. Published online. Accessed: May 16 2018.
The Plant List 2013. Salicornia bigelovii in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2016 Jul. 13.
Tropicos.org 2016. Salicornia bigelovii. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 13 Jul. 2016.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Salicornia bigelovii in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
English: dwarf glasswort, dwarf saltwort

Salicornia bigelovii is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common names dwarf saltwort[2] and dwarf glasswort. It is native to coastal areas of the eastern and southern United States, Belize, and coastal Mexico (both the east and west coasts).[3][4][5] It is a plant of salt marshes, a halophyte which grows in saltwater. It is an annual herb producing an erect, branching stem which is jointed at many internodes. The fleshy, green to red stem can reach about 60 cm in height. The leaves are usually small plates, pairs of which are fused into a band around the stem. The inflorescence is a dense, sticklike spike of flowers. Each flower is made up of a fused pocket of sepals enclosing the stamens and stigmas, with no petals. The fruit is an utricle containing tiny, fuzzy seeds. The southern part of the species range is represented by the Petenes mangroves of the Yucatán, where it is a subdominant plant associate in the mangroves.[6]
Uses

This plant is gaining scientific attention for its potential to serve as an oil crop that can be grown in desert environments and maintained with water containing high levels of salts. It is the source of salicornia oil. The plant is up to 33% oil.[7] The oil contains up to 79% linoleic acid and is functionally similar to safflower oil.[8] It can be used as a cooking oil and a replacement for more valuable oils in chicken feed. Domestic animals can be fed the plant as a forage.[9] The plant could also be a source of biofuel.[10]

Since the plant is a halophytic coastline species which grows in saltwater, it can be irrigated with seawater, making it a potential crop for landscapes that can support few other crop plants.[7][9] The plants can also be watered with high-salt drainage water, such as the effluent from farmland in California's Central Valley.[11] Fields of the plant have been grown in wastewater from aquaculture farms in Eritrea and harvested for animal feed.[10]
References

Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. Illustrated flora of the northern states and Canada. Vol. 2: 22.
USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Salicornia bigelovii". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
Godfrey, R. K. & J. W. Wooten. 1981. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States Dicotyledons 1–944. Univ. Georgia Press, Athens.
Carnevali, G., J. L. Tapia-Muñoz, R. Duno de Stefano & I. M. Ramírez Morillo. 2010. Flora Ilustrada de la Peninsula Yucatán: Listado Florístico 1–326.
Balick, M. J., M. H. Nee & D.E. Atha. 2000. Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize. Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden 85: i–ix, 1–246
* World Wildlife Fund. eds. Mark McGinley, C.Michael Hogan & C. Cleveland. 2010. Petenes mangroves. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
Glenn, E. P., et al. (1991). Salicornia bigelovii Torr.: An oilseed halophyte for seawater irrigation. Science 251:4997 1065-67.
Anwar, F., et al. (2002). Analytical characterization of Salicornia bigelovii seed oil cultivated in Pakistan. J. Agric. Food Chem. 50:15 4210-14
Bashan, Y., et al. (2000). Growth promotion of seawater irrigated oilseed halophyte Salicornia bigelovii inoculated with mangrove rhizosphere bacteria and halotolerant Azospirillum spp. Biol Fertil Soils 32:265-72.
Dickerson, M. Letting the sea cultivate the land. Los Angeles Times July 10, 2008
Grattan, S. R., et al. (2008). Feasibility of irrigating pickleweed (Salicornia bigelovii Torr) with hyper-saline drainage water. J. Environ. Qual. 37 S-149.