Image - Wikimedia / Christian Ferrer
La Sarcocornia fruticosa is a herbaceous that belongs to a group of very curious plant beings: the halophytes; that is to say, they live on land with a high presence of salts. It could be said that they are the descendants of the first plants; not in vain, it was in the sea that life originated some 4.000 million years ago.
Our protagonist is a species that we find growing even a few meters from the sea. In addition, when it blooms, although its flowers are very small, as it produces them in large numbers, it stands out a lot among the marine flora. Do we know it? : )
Origin and characteristics
Image - Wikimedia / Nanosanchez
It is a perennial herbaceous plant native to almost the entire world: Eurasia, North Africa, Polynesia, Central and South America, popularly known as sosa scorpion, crystal grass, salty almajo or sapina. It lives in salty and humid terrain, such as saline shores and salt marshes. Reaches a height of up to 1,5 meters, with an erect bearing and highly branched stems. These stems are cylindrical, green and glabrous in color, and may have very small sessile leaves.
The flowers, which sprout in summer, are grouped in cylindrical spike-shaped inflorescences, the central one being somewhat larger than the lateral ones. The fruit is an achene in which we find brown or grayish-brown seeds.
Can it be cultivated?
Image - Wikimedia / Hans Hillewaert
Of course! We understand that there are many other plants that have a much higher ornamental value, but if you live near the sea, you will be interested in cultivating species that are capable of living, and living well, in those conditions, and one of them is the Sarcocornia fruticosa.
Therefore, below we tell you what your care is:
- Location: outside, in full sun.
- Earth: neutral or alkaline soils. Tolerates saline.
- Irrigation: very frequent, preventing the soil from drying out.
- Subscriber: there's no need.
- Rusticity: resistant up to -7ºC.
What did you think of this plant? Did you know her?