Suaeda aegyptiaca (Hasselq.) Zohary
Eng.: Sea-blite. Spa.: Sosa, almajo dulce. Fre.: Soude pruineuse. Ara.: Suit, suida, sueda, cerira, djill, idjell, iskrif, lisrirh, chefchaf, ucera, chervia, suwaid.
Usually a herbaceous species, succulent, glabrous and glaucous that can reach up to 80 cm in height. Stem rounded, erect, sometimes decumbent, yellowish-white to dark pink. Usually annual, but it can live up to several years, in which case the base of a stem lignifies. Leaves up to 2.5 × 0.25 cm, subcylindrical to linear, fleshy. Flowers hermaphrodite and female, sessile or somewhat pedicellate in axillary glomeruli, forming dense foliated racemes. Bracts with scarious margin. Perianth divided with scarious margins, with lobes that are swollen and spongy at fruiting. Stigmas 2-4, female flowers with small staminoids. Fruit 1 mm, enclosed in a spongy receptacle, with reticulated, black, glossy seeds.
Flowering:
March to October.
Fruiting:
April to November.
Habitat:
It grows in saline soils (edges of marshes, coastal sands) and edges of cultivated fields.
Distribution:
In N and E Africa (Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia), SW Asia and eastern parts of the Mediterranean. Cited in Cyprus and other Greek islands. Also in the Muluya Valley (Morocco), initially as an introduced species.
Conservation status:
It is a common species and in principle it is not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.