Sarcobatus vermiculatus (Greasewood) - photos and description
On a steep slope Grasslands National Park
Origin: Native.
General: Woody shrub, much branched, with sharp spines. Plants glabrous.
Flowers: Male and female flowers separate on the same plant. Its male flowers are shown above, grow in small spikes on end of stems, resembling small pine cones. Staminate flower spike measured to 15 mm long. Pistillate flowers solitary in leaf axils below the staminate flower spikes.
Leaves: Leaves are fleshy, pale green, linear, opposite and in whorls, leaf measured to 2 cm long and 2 mm wide.
Height: Height is listed in Budd's Flora to 2 metres, we measured plants to 90 cm tall.
Habitat: Badlands, and dry, saline flats in southern Saskatchewan.
Abundance: Common, ranked as an S5 by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
When and where photographed: The above photos were taken June 29th, eroded slope, West block of the Grasslands National Park, about 400 km south west of our home in Regina, SK.