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Frankenia pauciflora
Also called Southern Sea Heath
Sea heath is a low, mat-forming evergreen subshrub from southern Australia that grows in salty coastal soils. It thrives in full sun to part shade with good drainage and tolerates salt, drought and alkaline or acidic soils.
Frankenia pauciflora, the common sea-heath or southern sea-heath, is an evergreen shrub native to southern Australia. It is part of the Frankenia genus of the Frankeniaceae family.
It can be prostrate or may grow up to 0.5 m in height. Pink or white flowers are produced between June and February in its native range. It occurs in saline flats, salt marshes, or coastal limestone areas.
Frankenia pauciflora is characterized as a halophyte and as such is found to localize in sandy soils, salt floats, salt marshes, and coastal limestones. The plant subsists in environments with a soil class of S2 and S3 which is described as moderately to highly saline soil. The species is a xerophyte, a drought-tolerant plant and survives in environments with sustained predictable dry periods followed by periods of moist soil. Frankenia pauciflora can subsist in a range of soil pHs ranging from acidic to alkaline. In addition, the plant tolerates hot overhead sun to warm low sun and is characterized as is shade tolerant.
The relative simplicity of growth and ability for the plant to adapt to a wide range of soils makes Frankenia Pauciflora an attractive choice for home gardening. Its flame-retardant properties also provide reduced chances of bush-fire spread in risk zones such as Australia when planted surrounding homes.
Frankenia cordata · Sea Heath · Alkali seaheath · Bristly Sea Heath
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Frankenia pauciflora by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
