Suaeda

Suaeda is a genus of plants also known as seepweeds and sea-blites. Most species are confined to saline or alkaline soil habitats, such as coastal salt-flats and tidal wetlands. Many species have thick, succulent leaves, a characteristic seen in various plant genera that thrive in salty habitats (halophile plants).

There are about 110 species in the genus Suaeda.

The most common species in northwestern Europe is S. maritima. It grows along the coasts, especially in saltmarsh areas, and is known in Britain as "common sea-blite", but as "herbaceous seepweed" in the USA. It is also common along the east coast of North America from Virginia northward. One of its varieties is common in tropical Asia on the land-side edge of mangrove tidal swamps. Another variety of this polymorphic species is common in tidal zones all around Australia (Suaeda maritima var. australis is also classed as S. australis). On the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea a common Suaeda species is S. vera. This is known as "shrubby sea-blite" in English. It grows taller and forms a bush.

The name Suaeda comes from an oral (non-literary) Arabic name for the Suaeda vera species transliterated as ', ' or , and it was assigned as the genus name by the 18th century taxonomist Peter Forsskål during his visit to the Red Sea area in the early 1760s. Forsskål's book, Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica, published 1775, in Latin, declares Suæda as a newly created genus name, with the name taken from an Arabic name Suæd and presents the species members of the new genus.

The genus includes plants using either C3 carbon fixation or C4 carbon fixation carbon fixation. The latter pathway evolved independently three times in the genus and is now used by around 40 species. S. aralocaspica, classified in its own section Borszczowia, uses a particular type of photosynthesis without the typical "Kranz" leaf anatomy.

Uses
In the medieval and early post-medieval centuries suaeda was harvested and burned, and the ashes were processed as a source for sodium carbonate for use in glass-making; see glasswort.

In Mexico, some species such as Suaeda pulvinata, called romeritos, are cooked in a traditional festive dish called either revoltijo or romeritos. It is also eaten as wild greens (quelites), or as edible herbs grown as part of the crop-growing system called milpa.

Species
93 species are accepted.
 * Suaeda acuminata (C.A.Mey.) Moq.
 * Suaeda aegyptiaca (Hasselq.) Zohary
 * Suaeda altissima (L.) Pall.
 * Suaeda anatolica (Aellen) Sukhor.
 * Suaeda aralocaspica (Bunge) Freitag & Schütze – formerly known as Borszczowia aralocaspica
 * Suaeda arbusculoides L.S.Sm.
 * Suaeda arctica Jurtzev & V.V.Petrovsky
 * Suaeda arcuata Bunge
 * Suaeda argentinensis A.Soriano
 * Suaeda arguinensis Maire
 * Suaeda articulata Aellen
 * Suaeda asphaltica (Boiss.) Boiss. – Asphaltic seablite
 * Suaeda australis (R.Br.) Moq. – Austral seablite
 * Suaeda braun-blanquetii (Pedrol & Castrov.) Rivas Mart., Cantó & Sánchez Mata
 * Suaeda caboverdeana Rivas Mart., Lousã, J.C.Costa & Maria C.Duarte
 * Suaeda caespitosa Dod
 * Suaeda calceoliformis (Hook.) Moq. – Pursh seepweed, broom seepweed, horned seablite
 * Suaeda californica S.Watson – California seablite
 * Suaeda carnosissima Post
 * Suaeda conferta (Small) I.M.Johnst. – beach seepweed
 * Suaeda corniculata (C.A.Mey.) Bunge
 * Suaeda cucullata Aellen
 * Suaeda dendroides (C.A.Mey.) Moq.
 * Suaeda densiflora Giusti ex Brignone
 * Suaeda divaricata Moq.
 * Suaeda edulis Flores Olv. & Noguez
 * Suaeda eltonica Iljin
 * Suaeda esteroa Ferren & S.A.Whitmore – estuary seablite
 * Suaeda foliosa Moq.
 * Suaeda fruticosa Forssk. ex J.F.Gmel.
 * Suaeda × genesiana Pedrol & Castrov.
 * Suaeda glauca (Bunge) Bunge
 * Suaeda heterophylla (Kar. & Kir.) Bunge ex Boiss.
 * Suaeda ifniensis Caball. ex Maire
 * Suaeda inflata Aellen
 * Suaeda iranshahrii Akhani & Freitag
 * Suaeda jacoensis I.M.Johnst.
 * Suaeda japonica Makino
 * Suaeda khalijefarsica Akhani
 * Suaeda kocheri Guss. ex C.Brullo, Brullo & Giusso
 * Suaeda kossinskyi Iljin
 * Suaeda kulundensis Lomon. & Freitag
 * Suaeda lehmannii (Bunge) Kapralov, Akhani & Roalson
 * Suaeda linearis (Elliott) Moq. – annual seepweed, narrow-leaf seablite
 * Suaeda linifolia Pall.
 * Suaeda malacosperma H.Hara
 * Suaeda maritima (L.) Dumort.
 * Suaeda merxmuelleri Aellen
 * Suaeda mexicana (Standl.) Standl. – Mexican seepweed
 * Suaeda micromeris Brenan
 * Suaeda microphylla Pall.
 * Suaeda microsperma (C.A.Mey.) Fenzl
 * Suaeda monodiana Maire
 * Suaeda monoica Forssk. ex J.F.Gmel.
 * Suaeda moschata A.J.Scott
 * Suaeda multiflora Phil.
 * Suaeda nesophila I.M.Johnst.
 * Suaeda neuquenensis M.A.Alonso, Contic. & Cerazo
 * Suaeda nigra (Raf.) J.F.Macbr. – bush seepweed, romerillo
 * Suaeda nigrescens I.M.Johnst.
 * Suaeda novae-zelandiae Allan
 * Suaeda nudiflora (Willd.) Moq.
 * Suaeda occidentalis (S.Watson) S.Watson – western seepweed
 * Suaeda olufsenii Paulsen
 * Suaeda palaestina Eig & Zohary
 * Suaeda palmeri (Standl.) Standl.
 * Suaeda pannonica Beck
 * Suaeda paradoxa (Bunge) Bunge
 * Suaeda patagonica Speg.
 * Suaeda pelagica Bartolo, Brullo & P.Pavone
 * Suaeda physophora Pall.
 * Suaeda plumosa Aellen
 * Suaeda prostrata Pall.
 * Suaeda pruinosa Lange
 * Suaeda pterantha (Kar. & Kir.) Bunge
 * Suaeda puertopenascoa M.C.Watson & Ferren
 * Suaeda pulvinata Alvarado Reyes & Flores Olv.
 * Suaeda rigida H.W.Kung & G.L.Chu
 * Suaeda rolandii Bassett & Crompton – Roland's seablite
 * Suaeda salina B.Nord.
 * Suaeda salsa (L.) Pall.
 * Suaeda scabra Lomon.
 * Suaeda sibirica Lomon. & Freitag
 * Suaeda spicata (Willd.) Moq.
 * Suaeda splendens (Pourr.) Gren. & Godr.
 * Suaeda stellatiflora G.L.Chu
 * Suaeda tampicensis (Standl.) Standl. – coastal seepweed
 * Suaeda taxifolia (Standl.) Standl. – woolly seablite
 * Suaeda tschujensis Lomon. & Freitag
 * Suaeda turgida G.L.Chu
 * Suaeda turkestanica Litv.
 * Suaeda tuvinica Lomon. & Freitag
 * Suaeda vera Forssk. ex J.F.Gmel.
 * Suaeda vermiculata Forssk. ex J.F.Gmel.