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Atriplex portulacoides; photograph (c) Eleftherios Katsillis, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Eleftherios Katsillis, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-07-12

Atriplex portulacoides L.

Sea purslane · doubtful

Amaranthaceae · Denmark, Great Britain +29

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Atriplex portulacoides L.: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, Pall., 1795.

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Atriplex portulacoides, photograph (c) Eleftherios Katsillis, some rights reserved (CC BY)Atriplex portulacoides, photograph (c) Eleftherios Katsillis, some rights reserved (CC BY)Atriplex portulacoides, photograph (c) Eleftherios Katsillis, some rights reserved (CC BY)Atriplex portulacoides, photograph (c) Eleftherios Katsillis, some rights reserved (CC BY)Atriplex portulacoides, photograph (c) Eleftherios Katsillis, some rights reserved (CC BY)Atriplex portulacoides, photograph (c) Barry Stewart, some rights reserved (CC BY) 60 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-1.6°C
Record low -7.8 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
19°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
826mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
4–37DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Halimione portulacoides, commonly known as sea purslane, is a shrub found in Eurasia.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Halimione portulacoides", CC BY-SA 4.0; its title is one of this species' older names (GBIF Backbone), which is the proof that the article is this species'.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (603 mm of 820 mm) takes 8 months, August to March. Mean temperature moves 11.3 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: February to September.

Rain

820 mm in the median year at the habitat, 603 mm of it August to March. Wettest month October at 99 mm, driest month May at 53 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 595 mm to 1,232 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 826 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 820 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 4 to 37 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 3, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -1.6 °C, the absolute minimum -7.8 °C, 566 frost nights in 44 years, 12.9 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 23.2 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 3.8 °C in February (across the grid cells of the range 0.8 °C to 7.4 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 19.1 °C in August (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -1.6 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 62 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -55 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Atriplex portulacoides through the yearWarmest months July and August, mean daily high 19 °C; coldest month February, mean nightly low 3.8 °C; 820 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°frost23.2° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-7.8° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 4–37RH 62–66%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 368 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C8 / 4–138 / 4–139 / 6–1511 / 9–1714 / 12–2017 / 15–2419 / 17–2719 / 17–2717 / 16–2414 / 12–2011 / 8–168 / 5–13
Night °C4 / 1–84 / 1–75 / 2–96 / 5–119 / 8–1412 / 11–1815 / 13–2015 / 13–2113 / 11–1910 / 9–157 / 5–115 / 2–9
Rain mm76 / 52–12857 / 40–9359 / 42–10154 / 36–7453 / 44–7555 / 24–7855 / 10–8459 / 26–9574 / 51–11099 / 67–14591 / 61–13588 / 55–140
DLI5 / 4–1310 / 8–1918 / 16–2828 / 26–3635 / 33–4237 / 33–4636 / 32–4630 / 26–4021 / 18–3112 / 10–217 / 5–144 / 3–11
RH %66 / 60–6864 / 58–6763 / 58–6562 / 58–6362 / 58–6362 / 58–6463 / 57–6463 / 58–6563 / 59–6464 / 60–6565 / 60–6666 / 60–68
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 368 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (725 records in those cells; 22 more cells hold records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cells are left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 726:3539 (53.675, -3.025). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -7.8 °C, 1st-percentile night -1.6 °C, 99th-percentile day 23.2 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 368 distinct grid cells holding 725 of the 751 in-range records (22 further cells with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 726:3539 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 53.50_-3.125, lapse-corrected -55 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 3 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeDenmark, Great Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Baleares, Corse, France, Portugal, Sardegna, Spain, Albania, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Sicilia, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Canary Is., Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Turkey · introduced: Sweden · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker51.991, 1.282 · in the densest population, 307 records (41% of those in range)
Extinct inBulgaria · recorded as extinct by WCVP: history, not habitat; no records are tested against these regions
Kew's description“subshrub or shrub” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 753 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 725 of them in the land cells it reads, of 751 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 537 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 8 km away. 1 record outside the WCVP native range not used. 2 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 3756031 (Halimione portulacoides (L.) Aellen): Kew's file holds it as Halimione portulacoides (L.) Aellen (synonym under Atriplex portulacoides L.); 900 records, from GBIF's search API on the day of the build.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 753 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Atriplex portulacoides, photograph 1did not loadAtriplex portulacoides, photograph 2did not loadAtriplex portulacoides, photograph 3did not loadAtriplex portulacoides, photograph 4did not loadAtriplex portulacoides, photograph 5did not loadAtriplex portulacoides, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Eleftherios Katsillis, some rights reserved (CC BY) (5); (c) Barry Stewart, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Juncus maritimus Juncus maritimus Sea rush Photo: CC BY, Tony KMCatapodium marinum Catapodium marinum Sea fern-grass Photo: CC BY, Andre HosperFumaria bastardii Fumaria bastardii Tall ramping-fumitory Photo: CC BY, Aalbert RebergenArmeria maritima Armeria maritima Thrift Photo: CC BY, LeeAnn LatremouilleParapholis strigosa Parapholis strigosa Hard-grass Photo: CC BY, Barry StewartSagina maritima Sagina maritima Sea pearlwort Photo: CC0, author not stated

Other Atriplex 28 in the reference

Atriplex amnicola Atriplex amnicola Swamp saltbush Photo: CC BY, mel lettermanAtriplex barclayana Atriplex barclayana Barclay saltbush Photo: CC BY, Enrique Martínez NúñezAtriplex canescens Atriplex canescens Four-wing saltbush Photo: CC BY, Rachel AllinghamAtriplex cinerea Atriplex cinerea Coast saltbush Photo: CC BY, Peter CrowcroftAtriplex confertifolia Atriplex confertifolia Shadscale Photo: CC BY, Anders HastingsAtriplex glabriuscula Atriplex glabriuscula Babington's orache Photo: CC0, author not statedAtriplex halimus Atriplex halimus Shrubby orache Photo: CC BY, Vasco Henrique Oliveira FonsecaAtriplex hortensis Atriplex hortensis Garden orache Photo: CC BY, Valerii GlazunovAtriplex hymenelytra Atriplex hymenelytra Desert-holly Photo: CC0, author not statedAtriplex laciniata Atriplex laciniata Frosted orache Photo: CC0, author not statedAtriplex lampa Atriplex lampa Amaranthaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedAtriplex lentiformis Atriplex lentiformis Big saltbush Photo: CC BY, Ashley N all 29 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Halimione portulacoides; Atriplex angustifolia var. angustifolia; Atriplex angustifolia var. erecta; Atriplex erecta; Atriplex portulacoides var. complanata and 15 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Amaranthaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland +28
Wild records
753 in range · 537 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21GBIF's key 7475185 is Atriplex portulacoides Pall., 1795; Kew accepts Atriplex portulacoides L., and the name is cited as Kew accepts it; its synonyms and common names are read from GBIF's Atriplex portulacoides L. (3083765), which GBIF files under Halimione portulacoides (L.) Aellen (3756031) too
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-2122 read from GBIF's Atriplex portulacoides L. (3083765), which GBIF files under Halimione portulacoides (L.) Aellen (3756031)
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredasked 2026-10-21no record under GBIF's key 7475185; 900 records of GBIF's key 3756031, Halimione portulacoides (L.) Aellen (Kew's file holds it as Halimione portulacoides (L.) Aellen (synonym under Atriplex portulacoides L.)): GBIF occurrence search API; 5 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (2 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 3 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 53.50_-3.125, lapse-corrected -55 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21found by its label; its IPNI identifier 164072-1 is Kew's for Atriplex portulacoides L.
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-21Wikipedia redirects Atriplex portulacoides to Halimione portulacoides, an older name of this species (Halimione portulacoides)
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-21read from the page's key and its other keys: 84 from GBIF's key 3756031
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 33 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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