Suaeda vermiculata Forssk. ex J.F. Gmel.
S. mollis (Desf.) Delile
Eng.: Sea-blite. Spa.: Sosa, almajo. Fre.: Soude molle. Ara.: Suit, suida, sueda, suwaid, sowweid, cerira, djill, idjell, iskrif, lisrirh, chefchaf, ucera, chervia, tarteer (Egypt). Tamahaq: Awssak.
Evergreen subshrub, hermaphrodite, up to 70 cm in height, very ramose from the base, with irregular branching, often intricate. Stems covered with a whitish striated bark. Branches green or purple, glabrescent. Leaves 2-20(30) × 1-4 mm, alternate, cylindrical or subglobose, slightly or not flattened on the upper side, obtuse, very fleshy, clearly petiolate but with a very short petiole, deep green, sometimes purple like the new growths, often coated with a waxy powder. Flowers very small (2-4 mm in diameter), greenish, grouped into glomeruli of 1-5 in the axils of the upper leaves. Bracteoles scarious, denticulate. Perianth with 5 parts and 5 stamens, fused at the base. Ovary conical, with 3 subulate stigmas. Fruit an achene surrounded by the 5 perianth parts, winged on the dorsal side. Seed black and smooth.
Flowering:
Spring and autumn.
Fruiting:
April to December.
Habitat:
More or less saline and humid soils in arid and semiarid regions.
Distribution:
Deserts and subdeserts from the western Sahara to India. In North Africa it appears scattered here and there throughout the Sahara.
Conservation status:
It is a common and even 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). In the updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) it has also been considered as Least Concern (LC).