Austral Seablite

Scientific Name:	Suaeda australis	Austral Seablite - plant Photo: A J Brown
Common Name:	Redweed
General Description:	Straggly shrub which can grow up to 1 m tall but is usually only about 20 cm tall. Small narrow succulent leaves on long upright stems and branches. Leaves are light green or purplish-red. Long thin spikes or branches bearing the small flowers and later the round fruit. Flowers in summer and autumn.
Further Details:	Alternate succulent leaves, 1-3 cm long. Small stalkless flowers in clusters in the leaf axils (where leaf joins the stem), forming slender leafy spikes at the ends of the branches. The spikes are often more than half the length of the branch. Fruiting body is round and flattened, 1-2 mm long, with 5 succulent lobes closing over the seed.
Soils:	Usually saline clay soils.
Habitat and Notes:	Found in saline situations. Along drainage areas and on the edge of temporary lakes, once the water level has dropped. Common in irrigation-induced saline areas. A widespread undershrub of salt marshes. Seldom grazed.

Austral Seablite - plant Photo: R Clark	Austral Seablite - large population Photo: A J Brown	Austral Seablite - plants Photo: A J Brown
Austral Seablite - plant Photo: ex-Matters & Bozon