Salicornia agg. Glasswort

Glassworts (Salicornia species) are very distinctive, fleshy annuals which occur on salt marshes throughout Europe. At the moment 7 species are recognised in Britain and 5 of those are found in West Glamorgan. However, they exhibit a wide variation in morphology and that is further complicated by their inbreeding habit. Consequently numerous distinct local populations have evolved which present significant identification challenges to field recorders. Among these, the taxonomic position of Salicornia europaea is particularly problematic and some other species (e.g. S. pusilla and S. ramosissima) could be included under that name or at least as Salicornia europaea agg. Some classification systems only recognise 3 species in the British and Irish floras where a very wide interpretation of Salicornia europaea is adopted. Despite these complications it is often possible to differentiate morphologically distinct populations of Salicornia according to their ecological preferences across the salt marsh salinity gradient.