This is a common habitat often associated with spits, berms or deltas where sand collects, where either there is little freshwater influence or marine derived salts are concentrated through evaporation. Substrata are sand, silty sand, or gravelly sand.  Salt pannes are common.

Diagnostic Species

The pickleweed Salicornia virginica dominates in upper zones, where it forms dense mats.

Common Associates

Jaumea carnosa, Distichlis spicata, Puccinellia spp., Glaux maritima, Plantago maritima, Atriplex patula, Stellaria humifusa, Spergularia spp.

Sites Surveyed

Dungeness Spit, The Lagoon, Travis Spit, Oak Bay, Scow Bay, Shoal Bight, Fisherman Bay, Henry Island, Westcott Bay, Tarboo Bay, Quilcene Bay, The Sink, Leadbetter Point.

Sources

Mumford and Shaffer pers. com.; Kunze, 1984; Kunze and Cornelius, 1982; Frenkel, Boss and Schuller, 1978; Jefferson, 1975.