I've been lucky enough to visit 3 saltmarshes, 2 on Hayling Island (the Kench and Northney) and 1 at RSPB Pagham Harbour, and want to devote a separate page to the unique plants I saw there. I am still learning about them and hope I can give accurate information here about saltmarsh plant identification in the UK but any corrections, please contact me (julie@gardenwithoutdoors.org.uk), thank you.
this is the saltmarsh at Northney, Hayling Island, high tide August 2021
this is the saltmarsh at Northney, Hayling Island, low tide August 2019
the edge of the saltmarsh at Pagham Harbour with a drift of sea thrift, looking very dry at the moment, August 2019
view of the Kench at sunset, July 2018, the saltmarsh is out of view, I'll look and see if I have a photo of it
| Golden Samphire | Limbarda crithmoides |
| Samphire / Glasswort | Salicornia europaea |
| Sea Aster | Tripolium pannonicum |
| Seablite / Sea Blite | Suaeda maritima |
| Sea Lavender | Limonium vulgare |
| Lax Sea Lavender | Limonium humile |
| Sea Purslane | Halimione portulacoides |
| Sea Spurrey | Spergularia marina |
Golden Samphire (Limbarda crithmoides)
I just read what a rare plant this is (although the book was rather old so not sure if that's accurate) but I've seen it at both satmarshes on Hayling. This photo also shows sea purslane surrounding the golden samphire and a few sea asters on the right. These 3 photos were taken 15-8-2019.
I took this (and the following 5 photos) at the saltmarsh at The Kench, Hayling Island, July 2018
entire clump
close-up of the flowers
above and below, clearer view of the leaves
Samphire / Glasswort (Salicornia europaea)
Northney, Hayling Island 15-8-2019
saw this at the saltmarsh at The Kench, Hayling Island, July 2018
close-up of the glasswort
Sea Aster (Tripolium pannonicum)
sea aster, surrounded by seablite, samphire and sea purslane, 15-8-2019 Northney, Hayling
sea aster surrounded by sea purslane, 15-8-2019
sea aster with what I'm thinking is seablite above (see Seablite below), Northney, Hayling 15-8-2019
Sea Lavender (Limonium vulgare)
sea lavender at The Kench, Hayling, 19-7-2018 surrounded by samphire
sea lavender and sea purslane, Northney, Hayling 15-8-2019
this separate plant is almost finished flowering
Lax Sea Lavender (Limonium humile)
this is lax sea lavender, a view of the entire plant, then some photos of closer views, Northney, Hayling 15-8-2019
Sea Purslane (Halimione portulacoides)
I saw this at Pagham Harbour 13-8-2019
I saw this at The Kench, Hayling Island, 19-7-2018
flower close-up
I saw this sea purslane on Hayling in the shingle along the beach
Seablite / Sea blite (Suaeda maritima)
this is sea purslane I saw at the Northney saltmarsh, Hayling, with a couple of other plants, left and centre, which I think is sea blite?
In addition to the two shoots above, I have a number of photos of what is possibly seablite (or is it sea-blite or sea blite?). This requires some research.
these 2 photos are of a smaller sprawling plant, Hayling Island 15-8-2019
these 2 look a bit different with some darker stems but now that I'm on my pc, they do seem to be the same plant - just some darker stems
taller plant on the salt marsh
the suspected seablite is also in the background of these photos of the sea spurrey at Pagham Harbour
a different type of seablite or just a more mature one?
I first saw this plant July 2018 at The Kench, Hayling Island
Sea Spurrey (Spergularia marina)
