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Salicornia europaea

Common name:	Glasswort	Family:	Chenopodiaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Salicornia herbacea ((L.)L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Coasts of western Europe, including Britain.
Habitat:	Coastal sands, mudflats and salt marshes, often near the low tide mark[9, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	S. depressa[B,P] S. europaea auct. non[P] S. europaea sensu[P] S. europaea var. pachystachya[B] S. europaea var. pachystachya auct. non[P] S. europaea var. prostrata[B] S. europaea var. prostrata auct. non[P] S. europaea var. simplex[B] S. europaea var. simplex auct. non[P] S. europea[E] S. herbacea auct. non[P] S. maritima[B,C,CAL,P] S. prostrata[B] S. prostrata auct. non[P] S. ramosissima[B] S. ramosissima auct. non[P] S. virginica[B,CPHOTO,CAL,CAL,,G,HORTIPLEX,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Common Glasswort [L], Glasswort [H], Jointed Glasswort [H], Kortarige Zeekraal [D], Marsh Samphire [E,H], Salicor [E], Salikorn [E], Sea Saltwort [B], Slender Grasswort [P], Virginia Glasswort [P], Woody Saltwort [B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	europaea = European;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Goosefoot family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe; Spain; Turkey; Us

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.3m. . It is in flower in August, and the seeds ripen in September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Oil; Seed.

Young stems - raw or cooked as a potherb, added to soups etc[5, 13, 52, 62, 183]. The plant is at its best for eating in late summer[264]. The stems are very succulent, but have a thin woody core that is easily removed[264, K]. They are best harvested when about 15cm long, the top 10cm being used leaving the bottom 5cm to produce new shoots[264]. They require little cooking, just adding them to a soup for the last few minutes of cooking is sufficient[9]. The plant has a salty flavour[183] and makes a very pleasant raw nibble[K]. The young shoots can be pickled after first boiling them in their own salted water[183].
Seed[105]. Rich in protein[183]. The seed is rather small and fiddly to utilize[K].
An edible oil is obtained from the seed. A high quality, it is similar to safflower oil (Carthamnus tinctoria)[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Cleanser; Potash.

The ashes obtained from burning this plant are rich in potash and are used in making soap or glass[4, 6, 13, 46, 61]. The ashes can also be used as a soap.

Cultivation details

Prefers a rich organic soil with ample nitrogen and regular watering[264]. This species is little, if at all, cultivated and its exact requirements are not clearly understood[264]. It is not known if the plant will require periodic inundation by salty water to grow well[264]. Glasswort is difficult to grow in cultivation[52, 264], it can succeed in gardens if sown as soon as the seed is ripe in the autumn in a well-drained soil[52].
A very variable plant both in size and the number of branches produced - a number of subspecies are recognised[264]. The best forms for food production are bushy plants up to 40cm tall with an upright habit that keeps the branches out of the mud[264]. The form sometimes classed as a distinct species (as S. ramosissima Woods.) has this habit and habitat and so is the best form for using in cultivation experiments[264]. When seeking seed for cultivation, try to collect from plants with this habit and also choose plants nearer the high tide mark that therefore receive less inundation[264].
The edible leaves are occasionally sold in local markets[46].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in situ as soon as ripe in a well-drained outdoor bed[52].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos) from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Salicornia europea (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for Salicornia herbacea (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for Salicornia maritima (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Salicornia virginica (a possible synonym).

[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Chenopodiaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[6] Mabey. R. Plants with a Purpose. Fontana 1979 ISBN 0-00-635555-2
Details on some of the useful wild plants of Britain. Poor on pictures but otherwise very good.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[264] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Vegetables Macmillan Reference Books, London. 1995 ISBN 0 333 62640 0
Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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