Suaeda calceoliformis

Horned seablite

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Horned seablite is a California native annual found in saline or alkaline wetland soils at elevations below 2,200 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces small flowers in dense clusters, with distinctive horn-like calyx lobes that give it its unique name. Growing prostrate to erect with green to dark red stems up to 80 centimeters tall, it has linear leaves that are tightly ascending and range from green to reddish. Its leaves are sessile, less than 40 millimeters long, with a flat adaxial surface that can vary in color from green to reddish. The seeds are particularly distinctive, ranging from 0.8 to 1.7 millimeters long, typically shiny and black or flat and dull brown.

Habitat: Saline or alkaline, wetland soils, generally dried

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 2200 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: San Diego, Los Angeles, Yolo, Orange, Mono, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Siskiyou, Modoc, Inyo, Butte, Glenn, Lassen, San Joaquin, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Solano

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.