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Pickleweed
What is the big deal?
What is it?
 Pickleweed (or Pacific
swampfire, Salicornia
pacifica) is a low growing
plant that dominates the
lower salt marsh.
Throughout the summer,
its low, bright-green
appearance gives the
marsh a golf-course-like
appearance. By autumn,
most pickleweeds are
more red than green,
turning the vegetation a
pleasant autumnal color.
Why is it important?
 Pickleweed is important to the survival of several
saltmarsh residents. It is food for both birds and
mammals. It is the primary habitat for the
endangered saltmarsh harvest mouse. Some species
of migratory ducks eat pickleweed seeds. Some
birds use it to build a nest.
Why can it grow in the
marsh?
 Pickleweed adapts very well to salt
water and lowering and rising tides.
 This plant handles salt in two ways—
as a salt excluder and a salt
accumulator. Some salt is filtered out
at the roots plant’s cell membranes.
Excess salt is pumped by other cells to
the tips of the plant’s jointed
segments. When the cells are full and
cannot hold any more salt, the cells
break down and die, and it turns red
and falls off.
 It does not grow near roads, bridges,
and levees.
Does the marsh need
pickleweed?
 Pros
Cons
What is your opinion?