A Key to Some Plants of the Gann Saltmarsh

A KEY TO SOME PLANTS OF THE GANN SALTMARSH.

1a)bright or dark green filaments lying on the mud surface...... green algae

b)dark red (black) moss-like plant at base of a dense layer

of vegetation...... red algae (Bostrychia scorpioides)

c)not as above...... 2

2a)plant looks like grass...... 3

b)not as above, leaves/stems may be fleshy (succulent)...... 6

3a)leaves broad (<10mm wide), pointed. Ligule (look where a leaf meets the stem)

a half-ring of hairs...... cord grass (Spartina sp.)

b)leaves narrow (<2mm wide)...... 4

4a)grass a dull grey/blue/green (glaucus) colour,ligule a 1-3mm membrane,

can colonise bare mud...... saltmarsh grass (Puccinellia maritima)

b)grass bright green, shiny, minute ligule (<0.5mm)

does not colonise bare mud...... red fescue grass (Festuca rubra)

c)not as above...... 5

5a)long, thin, flat leaves (<2mm wide). All leaves arise from a basal rosette.

Pink flowers at end of a single stem in spring and summer...... thrift (Armeria maritima)

b)long, thin leaves, often sticking upwards with a “D” shaped cross section. Ligule

large. Flowers greeny/brown and spread out...... sea arrow-grass (Triglochin maritima)

6a)plant may either look dead, with long, thin upright woody stems and branches (1)

and/or look like bright green seedlings on the mud surface (2) and/or have long,

bright green (sometimes red or yellow) fleshy (cactus-like) cylindrical stems (3).

Colonises bare mud...... glasswort (Salicornia spp.)

b)plant similar to glasswort but fleshy cylindrical stems are grey/green and dull, seedlings,

if present, look like this ...... sea blite (Suaeda maritima)

c)not as above...... 7

7a)leaves, long & narrow...... 8

b)leaves, broad & flat...... 10

8a)leaves long, thin, flat (<2mm wide). All leaves arise from a basal rosette.

Pink flowers at end of a single stem in spring and summer...... thrift (Armeria maritima)

b)leaves long & thin but fleshy...... 9

9a)leaves fleshy with a crescent moon-shaped cross section...... sea plantain (Plantago maritima)

b)leaves opposite, bright green, cylindrical. Pink/mauve flowers in summer with

pale coloured central area...... greater sea spurrey (Spergularia media)

10a)leaves opposite, fleshy, grey green/pink, often found in large patches on the

Saltmarsh, especially on the banks of gulleys...... sea purslane (Atriplex portulacoides)

b)not as above...... 11

11a)leaves elongated, elliptical and broad...... 12

b)leaves spade or diamond-shaped or similar...... 13

c)leaves not as above...... 14

12a)leaves fleshy, broadening gradually to blunt tip. May have a mauve, daisy-like

flower (July-Sept). No spike at leaf tip...... sea aster (Aster tripolium)

b)leaves broaden gradually to tip, not fleshy. Small spike at tip. Purple flowers on

many-branched stems (July-Aug)...... lax-flowered sea lavender (Limonium humile)

13a)leaves spade (or heart or diamond) shaped on long petiole.

White flowers...... common scurvy grass (Cochlearia officinalis)

b)leaves shiny green, often diamond shaped...... sea beet (Beta maritima)

14a)leaves in close opposite pairs, alternating round stem, < 12mm long.

Small pink flowers in leaf axil (June/July)...... sea milkwort (Glaux maritima)

b)you blew it, try to sneak away without anyone noticing...... zoologist