Citation: L., Syst. Nat. edn 10, 2:1044 (1759).

Derivation: Greco-Latin nitrum, saltpetre; on account of the saline plains in Siberia where the plant was first found.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: None

Description:
Shrubs, often thorny; leaves spiral or clustered, simple, cuneate at the base, succulent; stipules minute, often caducous.

Flowers in forked scorpioid cymes; bracts caducous; sepals 5, connate at the base, persistent; petals hooded, induplicate-valvate; stamens 10-15, without appendages; ovary 3-celled, with 1 pendulous ovule in each cell; style short, thick; stigmas 3.

Drupe with fleshy exocarp and bony endocarp; putamen ovoid-conical, with irregular pits in the lower part and 6 longitudinal furrows in the upper third, by abortion l-seeded.

Distribution:  About 9 species. From the western Sahara to central East Asia; 1 species in Australia. In salt deserts and coastal dunes. (Bobrov (1965) Bot. Zhurn. 50:1053-1067; J. C. Noble & R. D. B. Whalley (1978) Aust. J. Ecol. 3:141-177.)

Biology: No text

Author: Not yet available