alkali-heath
Frankenia salina

Family: Frankeniaceae.

Type: Woody plant.

Leaves: Small and somewhat cupped, arranged in little clusters of three or four leaves. Clusters are arranged opposite to each other.

Fruit & Flower: Frankenia is usually flowering in the fall, but no flowers were visible on this visit.

Miscellaneous: This is a salt marsh species. It is highly salt-tolerant, and extrudes salt through its leaves; you can taste the salt if you lick a leaf, and the salt crystals are often visible on the leaves. It is often found colonizing areas in scrub where there is a lot of salt spray, or on the margins of salt marshes; it can handle salt, but not large-scale inundation. Frankenia is in its own family, and this species is the only member of this family in California.