Suaeda moquinii (Torr.) Greene

by Terra Crampton, Native Plants Class 2003
Common names: Mojave seablite, bush seepweed, shrubby seepweed, desert blite
Family: Chenopodiaceae
Synonymy: Suaeda fruticosa, Chenopodium fruticosum (L.), Dondia moquini (Torr.) (1).
Etymology: Suaeda is an Arabic name for salty – no info on moquinii; may be in honor of French botanist Christian Horace Benedict Alfred Mouin-Tandon but this could not be confirmed (2).

Identification
Growth form: Suaeda moquinii is a succulent shrub, subshrub, forb/herb; erect or ascending, nearly or quite glabrous 2-10 dm high (2).
Roots:
Stem:
Leaves: 1-1.8 cm long, terete or nearly so, acute or obtuse, and only slightly reduced in inflorescence (2).
Inflorescences/flowers: flowers in axillary clusters of 1-5, depressed-globose, 1-1.5 mm, broad with incurved calyx and lobes (2).
Fruit: seed are mostly horizontal, 0.6-0.8 mm, smooth, black, and shiny (2).
Similar species: Suaeda californica, S. taxifolia, S. torreyana, S. ramosissima (2).

Ecology
Life history: Perennial
Native/introduced:
Photosynthetic pathway:
Phenology:
Distribution: grows in alkaline or saline soil – Alberta to central Mexico to southern California at 3,000 to 6,500 feet (3).

Uses:

References
1. Quattrocchi, Umberto. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names, Vol. III, CRC Press, London, UK

2. Shreve, Forrest and Ira L. Wiggins. Vegetation and Flora of the Sonorran Desert, Vol. I, 1964. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA

3. Martin, William C. and Charles R. Hutchins. A Flora of New Mexico, Vol. I, 2001. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, India.