Sea Rocket

(Cakile edentula)

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Sea Rocket (Cakile edentula)

Identification: A plant on beach sand. Flowers small, purple, in an irregular terminal cluster. Seed pods bulbous and sharply constricted in the middle. Stems and leaves succulent. Leaves elongate, smoothly toothed along the outer margin. Plant 0.5 to 1 foot in height.

Distribution: Found along the Atlantic Coast from Labrador southward to Florida. Also found on the shores of the Great Lakes and the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada.

Habitat: Sea Rocket is found on sandy beaches.

Flowering Period: July to September.

Sea Rocket (Cakile edentula)

Similar Species:

The combination of habitat, the succulent leaves, and the small, purple flowers make Sea Rocket an easily identified species.

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