Apium prostratum Labill. ex Vent.

Prostrate marshwort (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Apiales > Apiaceae > Apium

Characteristics

A small herb. It is a creeping plant which grows close to the ground. It keeps growing from year to year. It has hollow stems. The plant is succulent. The stems are 15-60 cm long. The leaves are similar to garden celery. They are light yellow-green in colour. They are divided and lobed. They vary in size. The flowers are white and in a flat topped arrangement with the flowers all coming out from one point. There are 6-12 flowers in the cluster. These heads can be 1.5 cm across. The seeds are small and shiny. It smells of celery when crushed.
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Procumbent to ascending, terrestrial perennial, not rooting at nodes. Lvs pinnately 3-foliolate to 1-2-pinnate; ultimate segments broadly or narrowly ovate to deltate, usually lobed and crenate, c. 5-30 mm long; upper stem lvs similar to lower and basal lvs, but often reduced and 3-foliolate or simple. Umbels compound, usually sessile or subsessile, lf-opposed; rays 2-10-(15); bracts and bracteoles 0. Fls numerous, white. Fr. broadly ovoid, 1.5-2.5 mm long; ribs broad and spongy.
Pending.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.6
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a temperate plant. It grows in coastal regions. It grows on rocky shores and swamps. It needs light well-drained soils. It is damaged by drought and frost. It often grows in limestone cliffs and dunes. It occurs on wet sandy shores. It grows along salty rivers. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 100 m above sea level. Tasmania Herbarium.
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Coastal headlands and dunes, margins of brackish swamps and saline stretches of river banks. Coastal areas, flooded sites, creeklines, swamps and marshes; growing in sand, sandy loam, granite and limestone soils.
Light 4-6
Soil humidity 4-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The leaves are dried then used for flavouring. The seeds can be used for flavouring. The stalks can be eaten. The leaves and stems are cooked and give a celery flavour. The leaves have a bitter taste so should be cooked.
Uses medicinal
Edible leaves roots seeds stems
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown by seed or by division.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Apium prostratum unspecified picture

Distribution

Apium prostratum world distribution map, present in Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:838116-1
WFO ID wfo-0000540700
COL ID FNJ7
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Apium dunicola Apium prostratum Apium australe var. angustisectum Apium prostratum var. maritimum

Lower taxons

Apium prostratum subsp. howense