Sarcocornia

When separated from Salicornia, the genus has a cosmopolitan distribution,[2] and is most diverse in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.

[1] The terminal or lateral inflorescences are spike-like, made up of joint-like segments with tiny paired cymes emerging from the joints.

Each cyme consists of three (rarely five) flowers completely embedded between the bract and immersed in the fleshy tissue of the axis.

The hermaphrodite or unisexual flowers are more or less radially symmetric, with a perianth of three or four fleshy tepals connate nearly to the apex, one or two stamens, and an ovary with two or three stigmas.

[4] A molecular phylogenetic study in 2017 confirmed the paraphyly of Sarcocornia, and merged the genus into Salicornia.