It is also present in the Middle East, including Iran and Pakistan, where it grows in the muddy coastal swamps immediately inland from the mangroves (Avicennia marina) that border the coast.

[3] In the delta region of the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, it dominates some plant communities in the salt marsh habitats.

About 60% of their dry mass was ash, and the plants were capable of accumulating a substantial quantity of sodium and chlorine ions.

A. macrostachyum can germinate at salinity levels of at least 800 mM NaCl, and at even higher concentrations in the presence of added calcium ions.

They churned up the mud and increased the oxygen content, which was quickly followed by the germination of A. macrostachyum, Halocnemum strobilaceum and Salicornia europaea.