What is "saltwort"

Saltwort \Salt"wort`\, n. (Bot.) A name given to several plants which grow on the seashore, as the Batis maritima, and the glasswort. See Glasswort.

Black saltwort, the sea milkwort.

n. 1 (taxlink Batis maritima species noshow=1), a plant distributed in the southwestern United States, Caribbean, and South America in coastal saltmarshes. 2 (taxlink Glaux maritima species noshow=1), a plant in the primrose family (Primulaceae) and which grows along coasts throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

1. n. bushy plant of Old World salt marshes and sea beaches having prickly leaves; burned to produce a crude soda ash [syn: barilla, glasswort, kali, kelpwort, Salsola kali, Salsola soda]

2. low-growing strong-smelling coastal shrub of warm parts of the New World having unisexual flowers in conelike spikes and thick succulent leaves [syn: Batis maritima]

Saltwort is a common name for various genera of flowering plants that thrive in salty environments, typically in coastal salt marshes and seashores, including:

:* Salsola

:* Salicornia

:* Tecticornia

:* Sarcocornia

:* Suaeda

:* Halogeton

:* and others: the above genera are in the family Amaranthaceae, which contains certain other saltwort genera not mentioned above, but not all Amaranthaceae are saltworts.

:* Batis, in the family Bataceae

See also glasswort – glassworts are saltworts, and saltworts can be glassworts

See also Saltbush aka Atriplex, a genus thriving in salty environments