Sea Milkwort

(Glaux maritima)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: Western wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, West National Technical Center.

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

 

Sea Milkwort (Glaux maritima L.)

Identification: Flowers small, white, with 5 petals, mostly fused except for terminal petal lobes. Flowers sessile and arising from the leaf axils. Stem green, smooth. Leaves fleshy, small, ovate, sessile to the stem, and in opposite pairs. Plant 2 to 12 inches in height.

Distribution: Found along the Atlantic Coast from The Gaspe Peninsula to Virginia. Also occurs in the northwestern United States.

Habitat: Sea Milkwort is found in salt marshes and brackish marshes.

Flowering period: June to July.

Similar Species: Sea Milkwort could be superficially confused with some species in the family Euphorbiaceae. However the flower is a typical white flower with 5 petals without the complicated structure of the euphorb flower.

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