1. 01/16/13
Salt Marsh Plants

2. Adaptations Waxy coating to prevent water loss due to osmosis
01/16/13
Adaptations
Waxy coating to prevent water loss due to osmosis
Places to store water inside (e.g. pickleweed)
Leaves that roll into tubes to prevent evaporation water loss
Adaptations are features of an organism that make it better suited to survive in its environment. 2

3. Zonation http://www.eserc.stonybrook.edu/ 01/16/13
The salt marsh is divided into zones much like the rocky intertidal. Zones correlate to the amount of water (salt and fresh) each region receives throughout a tidal cycle.
The marsh zones in this picture are Low marsh and high marsh. 3

4. Arrow grass (Triglochin maritimum)
01/16/13
Arrowgrass can tolerate both fresh and brackish water. They have a specialized underground stem (rhizome) that grows horizontally and produces shoots. 4

5. Fat hen (Atriplex sp.) Arrow Shaped Leaves 01/16/13
Members of this plant family live in salt marshes and the desert. Atriplex is extremely tolerant of salt content in the ground because it retains salt in its leaves (an adaptation to grow in a salt marsh). 5

6. Pickleweed (Salicornia virginica)
01/16/13
Pickleweed is a succulent, salt tolerant plant that lives in a salt marsh. This plant is highly edible, but is very salty-tasting! There is research suggesting that salicornia farms could be used to produce biodiesel. 6

7. Lyngby’s sedge (Carex lyngbyei)
01/16/13
Lyngby’s sedge (Carex lyngbyei)
This plant is a sedge, and is one of the first plants to colonize a mud tidal flat. Its roots send out long runners (rhizomes) that grow horizontally and sprout new plants. 7

8. Spike grass (Distichlis spicata)
01/16/13
Spike grass thrives on salt flats, due to its dense root system that has sharp points that can grow well in mud and underwater. This plant has a special adaptation for growing in salty environments in that it excretes salts from its tissues with special salt glands. 8

9. Fleshy jaumea (Jaumea carnosa)
01/16/13
This plant grows in salt marshes because it has special adaptations that allow it to tolerate salt water. It grows by rhizomes like other salt marsh grasses. 9