Halosarcia indica

(Willd.) Paul G. Wilson

Brown-headed glasswort, Marsh Samphire

AmaranthaceaeLeaves

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(c) Russell Cumming, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Branches, Leaves, Vegetable

The young branches and leaves are eaten raw, cooked as a pot herb, or pickled. The outer corky layer is removed before cooking. The plant is characteristically sour and can be eaten cooked or raw. The ash can be used as a salt substitute.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It can grow in salty soil. It grows in seasonally waterlogged places. It grows on tidal mud flats. It grows on tropical coasts. It can grow in dry areas. It grows in areas with a rainfall between 100-600 mm per year. It can grow on the land ward side of mangroves that are occasionally flooded. It can grow in arid places.

Africa, Asia, Australia, East Africa, India, Indochina, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Pakistan, SE Asia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, Zambia,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Angola, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, China, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Comoros, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A soft succulent herb. It grows about 40 cm high. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows near the waters edge. It spreads 1-1.5 m wide. The branches lie along the ground and the young branches are slender. It forms loose open mats. The stems have joints. The leaves are reduced to scales. The segments are 1 cm long by 0.6 cm wide and barrel shaped. They are grey or red. The spikes are 2 cm long. The flowers are mainly female. The flowers are in clusters of 3. The fruit are spongy with a horny outer surface.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown from seed or cuttings.

Medicinal Uses

Used traditionally as a famine food.

Other Information

It is a famine food. It is only a minor food.

Notes

There are 25 Halosarcia species. Most are in Australia. Also put in the family Chenopodiaceae.

Names & Synonyms

Bholado, Ciri-ciri, Jadu palang, Koyaloo, Koyalu, Koyya pippali, Koyya-pippili, Machola, Machul, Machur, Muchul, Oomarie keeray, Queiloo, Pavala poondoo, Samphire, Subhar, Suvar, Umari, Umari keerai

Arthrocnemum brachiata Miq.Arthrocnemum ciliolatum BungeArthrocnemum indicum (Willd.) Moq.Arthrocnemum leiostachya (Benth.) PaulsenSalicornia brachiata Miq..Salicornia indica Willd.and others

References (25)

Ambasta S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 56 (As Arthrocnemum indicum and Salicornia brachiata)
Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 42 (As Arthrocnemum indicum)
Cooper W & Cooper W T, 1994, Fruits of the Rain Forest. RD Press p 156
Edible and Useful Native Plants (off internet)
Elliot, W.R., & Jones, D.L., 1990, Encyclopedia of Australian Plants suitable for cultivation. Vol 5. Lothian. p 248
Flora of Australia, Volume 4, Phytolaccaceae to Chenopodiaceae, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra (1984) p 298
Flora of Pakistan. www.eFlora.org (As Arthrocnemum indicum)
Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 310
Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 589 (As Salicornia brachiata)
Joshi, A., et al, 2018, Halophytes of Thar Desert: Potential source of nutrition and feedstuff. International Journal of Bioassays 8.1 (2018) pp. 5674-5683 (As Arthrocnemum indicum)
Kenneally, K.E., Edinger, D. C., and Willing T., 1996, Broome and Beyond, Plants and People of the Dampier Peninsula, Kimberley, Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Land Management. p 84
Lazarides, M. & Hince, B., 1993, Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia, CSIRO. p 128
Low, T., 1992, Bush Tucker. Australia’s Wild Food Harvest. Angus & Robertson. p 137
Martin, F.W. & Ruberte, R.M., 1979, Edible Leaves of the Tropics. Antillian College Press, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. p 182 (As Arthrocnemum indicum)
Melzer, R. & Plumb, J., 2011, Plants of Capricornia. Belgamba, Rockhampton. p 517
Paczkowska, G. & Chapman, A.R., 2000, The Western Australian Flora. A Descriptive Catalogue. Western Australian Herbarium. p 204
Pham-Hoang Ho, 1999, An Illustrated Flora of Vietnam. Nha Xuat Ban Tre. p 725 (As Arthrocnemum indicum)
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 7th April 2011] (As Arthrocnemum indicum)
Shah, G.L., 1984, Some economically important plant of Salsette Island near Bombay. J. Econ. Tax. Bot. Vol. 5 No. 4 pp 753-765 (As Arthrocnemum indicum)
SHORTT, (As Salicornia brachiata and Salicornia indica)
Singh, H.B., Arora R.K.,1978, Wild edible Plants of India. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. p 39 (As Arthrocnemum indicum and Salicornia brachiata)
Thiselton-Dywer, W.T., (Ed.), 1913, Flora of Tropical Africa. Vol VI-section 1. Reeve, p 86 (As Arthrocnemum indicum)
WATT (As Arthrocnemum indicum and Salicornia brachiata)
Wheeler, J.R.(ed.), 1992, Flora of the Kimberley Region. CALM, Western Australian Herbarium, p 101
Williams, K.A.W., 1999, Native Plants of Queensland Volume 4. Keith A.W. Williams North Ipswich, Australia. p 218