 Photo ©
Carl Farmer |
Occasional in brackish water Leaves c 4-11 cm long. Fruits c 2.3 x 1.5 mm, on individual stalks c 5-35 mm long, their common stalk c 10-25 mm long. Skye ID: In fruit, could only be mistaken for Spiral Tasselweed. Note that in both species the stalks lengthen while the fruit is forming. In flower the carpels which later become the fruits are not individually stalked and are shared between just 2 flowers, each of which has 2 stamens and no petals or sepals. Told from Spiral T by the mature fruit stalks not being coiled into spirals. Also the fruit is very assymetrical in our species, but not or slightly so in Spiral T. When not in fruit the species are difficult to tell apart but Beaked T has 3-5 carpels per flower (2-8 in Spiral), and tends to have the leaf narrowing to a pointed tip whereas Spiral usually has the leaf parallel sided to within its own breadth of the tip, which is rounded. Other features: Forms mats in saltmarsh pools which are fed by both fresh and sea water. Leaves thread-like, < 1 mm wide, toothed near the tip only. |
