Wetland Communities - Hypersaline Flats and Salterns
 

Hypersaline Flats and Salterns are WETLANDS created from marine overwash that evaporates to create a high salt content in the soil that effectively limits the growth of most vascular plant species. There are many variations of this community and classic examples in the Florida Keys and south Florida will include the following plants: black mangrove, saltwort, glasswort, salt grass, seaside dropseed grass, keys grass, sea oxeyes, christmas berry, sand cordgrass and sea-purslane.

To the right is a view of a hypersaline flat on Big Pine Key, Florida.

Typical plants of Hypersaline Flats and Salterns

Woody Plants

Botanical Latin	Common Name	Wetland Status
Avicennia germinans	black mangrove	OBL
Baccharis angustifolia	false-willow	OBL
Baccharis halimifolia	eastern false-willow	FAC
Borrichia arborescens	tree seaside tansy	OBL
Borrichia frutescens	bushy seaside tansy	OBL
Iva frutescens	marsh elder	OBL
Lycium carolinianum	Christmas berry	OBL

 

Herbaceous Plants

Botanical Latin	Common Name	Wetland Status
Batis maritima	saltwort	OBL
Distichlis spicata	seashore saltgrass	OBL
Limonium carolinianum	sea-lavender	OBL
Monanthochloe littoralis	keygrass	OBL
Salicornia bigelovii	dwarf saltwort	OBL
Sesuvium maritimum	slender seapurslane	FACW
Spartina patens	saltmeadow cordgrass	FACW
Spartina spartinae	gulf cordgrass	OBL
Sporobolus virginicus	seashore dropseed	OBL
Suaeda linearis	annual seepweed	OBL