Seed Dispersal in Salicornia pusilla

Abstract

THE method of seed dispersal in the annual glasswort Salicornia pusilla (Chenopodiaceae), a local plant of coastal salt-marshes, is of interest. In this species the seeds are deeply immersed in the fleshy tissues of the stem cortex, and are covered (except at the minute orifice) by the long persistent perianth. In all other European species of this genus, the inflorescence consists of decussately paired 3-flowered cymules. In S. pusilla, however, these cymules are single flowered. A normal fruiting head (Fig. 1) contains 4–10 seeds and is shed from the parent plant, as the seeds ripen, by the development of an abscission layer. The seeds are retained within the cortical tissues even when the fruiting head has become separated.