frequently rhizomatous and, like strand plants, may reproduce 

 vegetatively. The flowers of most salt-marsh plant species in 

 California are inconspicuous, although this characteristic is not 

 obviously related to any ecological peculiarities of the habitat. 



Typical Coastal Salt Marsh species in California are members 

 of the peculiar glasswort or pickleweed genus Salicomia (Cheno- 

 podiaceae, Plate 5D); sea bhte or seep weed {Suaeda spp., 

 Chenopodiaceae); Cord Grass (Spartinafoliosa, Gramineae); Salt 

 Grass (Distichlis spicata, Gramineae); Sea Lavender or Marsh 

 Rosemary (Limonium califomicum. Plumb aginaceae); Frankenia 

 (Frankenia spp., Frankeniaceae); and arrow grass {Triglochin spp., 

 Juncaginaceae). There are rather few plant species represented in 

 the Coastal Salt Marsh; like the Coastal Strand plant community 

 it is relatively impoverished in number of species and also rela- 

 tively monotonous because its component species tend to occur 

 widely in salt marsh areas along the coast. 



Pickleweed is, as its name suggests, used for making pickles. Its 

 salty, succulent, jointed stems are essentially tasteless, when 

 fresh, but when impregnated with vinegar, sugar, and spices, they 

 make an acceptable and inexpensive substitute for cucumber 

 pickles. Although few people in California use Salicomia for 

 making pickles, this practice is still fairly common in northern 

 Europe. Because of the high content of sodium (from salt) in the 

 tissues of the plants, in times past large quantities were burned 

 for soda ash which in turn was used for making glass. Thus, the 

 two common names for Salicomia, pickleweed and glasswort, are 

 derived from actual uses of the genus. During May and continuing 

 into summer months, the Salicomia of coastal salt marshes be- 

 comes infested with the colorful bright-orange strands of the 

 dodder, Cuscuta salina (Cuscutaceae), a parasitic relative of the 

 morning glory (Plate 5D). 



Some portions of the Coastal Salt Marsh plant community are 

 subjected to inundation due to tidal action; other areas are only 

 occasionally inundated, although the soil may be saturated with 

 salt water. Some plant species characteristic of this plant com- 

 munity are able to tolerate immersion in salt water and others 

 are not. As a result, there is frequently a zonation pattern of 

 plants in a Coastal Salt Marsh that is related to the tolerance of 



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