#halophyte

Photo by Loxley Febec on iNat - the photos we took weren't very sharp, but clearly showed the very odd structure of the plant.

Described in 1849 by French naturalist Alfred Moquin-Tandon as Echinopsilon carnosus. 'carnosus' means 'fleshy' and while the plant has a number of adaptations against water loss, most notably the wool, other Bluebushes are much more succulent. Oddly enough the genus Maireana was first delineated in 1840 by the same botanist, but this species didn't get moved into it until 1975.

Named to honour Joseph François Maire (1780–1867), an amateur botanist who befriended Moquin-Tandon during the author's first visit to Paris in 1834.

An Amaranth native to the drier parts of the Australian mainland, but much more common in Western Australia than elsewhere. Growing in sand, clay, and loam, but only where the ground is saline.

There are almost 60 species of Bluebush in Australia, all endemic, and range from herbaceous to woody perennials to small shrubs.

amphibious

Salicornia brachiata

Umari Keerai

Her fresh bloomed garden Reaped by dull scythe Ragged and pale The well ran dry of hope Only tears filled the furrows The salted soil fell fallow Brittle, then heaved in frost

AKA White Mangrove, and mānawa in New Zealand. Currently in the Acanthaceae family, although that remains contentious.

Native to Africa's East coast, the Arabian Peminsula, all Australian states, and parts of New Zealand. Grows remarkably far south for a mangrove.

Grey mangroves can be found as shrubs, like those in my photos, or up to 14 metres tall in tropical regions. The gnarled branches have smooth light-grey flaky bark. They excrete excess salt through glands on the leaves. Like other Avicennia species they have aerial roots to absorb oxygen and anchor the plant when tides come in. Fruit often germinates on the tree, falling as a seedling that may spear into the mud of the estuary or float away on the outgoing tide.

AKA Sarcocornia quinqueflora, bead weed, beaded glasswort, ureure in New Zealand or simply glasswort. The genus are also called Pickleweeds.

A succulent halophyte found wetter coastal areas of Australia and New Zealand, although it's not native to the latter. Oddly enough it's also found in two places in Central Otago in New Zealand, which is nowhere near the coast, but did use to have extensive salt pan habitat.

Historically, people used to burn glassworts to collect the ashes, for the soda content which was used to make soap and glass. It's also edible and the newer shoots quite palatable. Certainly the orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster) thinks so - the seeds are a critical food, so the ongoing loss of samphire flats is a disaster for the 180 remaining birds.

AKA Redweed.

After we'd moved to a much better hotel immeadiately adjacent to the airport, I walked across the freeway to investigate a few parks I saw on the map. They were dissapointing - large trees, certainly, but lawn underneath, and not even any gardens to investigate. I did find a few halophytes in low, damp, presumably salty area of reclaimed land next to the sports ovals and tennis courts, though. Not immeadiately adjacent to the estuary, but probably very close to the water table.

Suaeda australis is an Amaranth native to Australia, growing to about 90cm tall, wth succulent green or pinkish-red foliage.It grows in coastal, estuarine, and salt marsh areas in all Australian States, where it grows in irrigated areas it's a good indicator of salinity problems.