Halimione portulacoides (L.) Aellen
Atriplex portulacoides L., Obione portulacoides (L.) Moq.
Eng.: Sea-purslane. Spa.: Verdolaga marina, cenizo blanco, sayón. Fre.: Arroche faux pourpier, obione faux pourpier. Ara.: Moghamlé, atab habiad.
Perennial subshrub, 50-80(100) cm in height, with woody rootstock and herbaceous at the top, monoecious, covered in squamiform trichomes, farinaceous. Stems radicant, prostrate or erect-patent. Leaves 0.5-15 × 10-55(20) mm, opposite, oblong-spatulate to linear-lanceolate, cuneate at the base and shortly petiolate, glaucous. Inflorescences in spiciform loose panicles, terminal. Flower unisexual, male flowers 5 tepals and 5 stamens and female flowers with 2 stigmas, without perianth and with two bracteoles. Fruit bracteoles, sessile or pedicellate, 2-4 mm, mostly fused, variably in shape, with obvious lateral lobes and a free apical triangular appendix. Fruit an achene.
Flowering:
May to December.
Fruiting:
No data for this region
Habitat:
Coastal thickets on sandy soils, especially in salt marshes.
Distribution:
European and North American Atlantic coasts, N and S Mediterranean coasts. In North Africa it reaches from the Atlantic coast of Morocco to the Sinai Peninsula.
Conservation status:
It is a common and locally abundant species. It is not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) it has been considered as Least Concern (LC).