Over the last few years, I have had a number of friends help me with the identification of the salt marsh plants which we find in this area. We have used the Field Guide to Common Saltmarsh Plants of Queensland by Louise Johns. The on-line version of this guide can be found here.
In the forward to this book written by the head of the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of New South Wales it says that "Saltmarshes are ...widespread, but until recently they have been virtually ignored - indeed they appear to have been almost invisible." Although there is a local group of dedicated volunteers that study and propagate the local wallum vegetation, I could not find anyone in this group that had done any detailed work on salt marsh plants.
My knowledge of these plants has grown over the years but I am still not positive that I have all the ID's right, so I would be very happy to have more knowledgeable people correct me. From observing the plants in a number of different salt marshes around the bay it appears that none of these plants grow to the height of those described in the field guide. In other respects they are the same.
There are various grasses, rushes and sedges which grow around the edges of the salt marsh but the only one which extends out on the flats here is the Saltcouch (Sporobolus virginicus). All photos enlarge when clicked on.
The most common plant across the salt marsh in this area is Bead weed (sarcocornia quinqueflora). This plant only grows a few inches in height (50-75mm). It forms quite a dense mat in places. It varies in color according to the season and the amount of stress put on the plant by the climate conditions. It can be a beautiful pink/red or a solid green. It has a very small white flower.
This plant - Tecticornia pergranulata - is a small erect and woody shrub not more than 12-15 inches tall (300-450mm). The flowers look just as small as those on the Bead weed but each year I see honey bees foraging on the plants.
