Descriptive
Information
- General
habitat: Salt flats, beaches, and
marshes
- Geographic
range: Found in coastal Florida
- Ecosystem(s)
where observed: Coastal Prairie
- Blooms:
June -November
- References:
Some information came from the National
Audubon Society Field Guide to Florida by Peter Alden, Rick Cech,
and Gil Nelson Copyright 1998 by Chanticleer Press, Inc. (pg. 160)
Appearance
and behavior observations
Glasswort is a perennial with green suculant segments ranging from
1/8Ó to 1/4Ó that interlock with each other to on a central shaft.
Some segments are fading into red from the bottom of the plant up.
We wondered if this was a sign of dying or aging. When we looked closer
we could tell that the segments at the bottom of the stalk turn red
and then dry out, forming the woody fibrous stem. So we concluded
that the new segments are at the
top of the plant and the dying ones work their way down. The height
of the overall plant ranges from 10-14 inches. The stems that run
along the ground and branch out into separate root masses are woody
and fibrous. It grows in very thick central masses
of roots (2-3Ó in diameter) then branches out into other sections.
It is salty to taste and has no apparent smell. We observed that it
grew in patches that did not have Pickleweed. The soil is very dry
and contains numerous shells which suggests a dried out wash area
or puddle. Entire stalks showed a pattern of being taller when they
were close to or mixed in with Pickleweed, then became shorter within
its own colony.
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