Plants of the Zwin

Mudflats are flooded by the sea twice a day, at high tide. They feature no or hardly any vegetation.  On the other hand, the salt marshes have a rich flora which has adapted to its surroundings. Between the most low-lying spots on the mudflats and the most elevated areas on the salt marshes, a transition occurs from wet to dry, from salt to sweet, from great to almost non-existent influence of the tides. Salty mudflats and salt marshes are rare along the coasts and river mouths of Western Europe. This is why they enjoy European protection.

Mudflats are flooded twice a day at high tide; they have hardly any vegetation. Seeds find no foothold here.

The most elevated areas of the mudflats are not flooded as often as the more low-lying ones, so certain plants are able to thrive in these elevated areas.

Salicornia grows in the most elevated zones. The seeds of this small plant can, of course, only find a foothold on those pieces of land which are not flooded by the sea on a daily basis.

Salicornia also grows in the more low-lying salt marshes. The plant manages to store enough water to be in balance with the highly salty environment in which it grows. The bright green, succulent and articulate stems store the water.

In Belgium, the Zwin is particularly unique as a salt marsh area.

The salt marsh is the plain which is regularly flooded by the sea; not every day, but during occasional floods caused by storms or spring tides. The nature of the plants which thrive here is influenced by several factors, such as the duration of immersion by the salty seawater and the difference in altitude of the area itself.

Each plant searches for its own level where it thrives best.

The salt marsh features characteristic vegetation. Here, you can only find plant species able to tolerate the influence of the seawater. These plants are called ‘salt-tolerant’ plants or ‘halophytes’.

The Zwin is not an easy biotope to survive in. And yet, some plants and animals are well adapted to this salty environment.

In order to survive in the salty water, the plants have some characteristic adaptations which arm them against the salty environment. They develop in such a way that they can go without water for quite some time. For this purpose, most salt-tolerant plants have thick, succulent leaves or stems where they can store the water they have absorbed for a long time. Salicornia and annual sea-blite are such plants. They have so-called ‘water reservoirs’.

Another type of salt-tolerant plants are pubescent plants. Their leaves are covered with either hairs or bladders. The function of these bladders is to retain a layer of air, thus preventing or slowing down evaporation. Sea purslane is an example of these pubescent plants. Its leaves are covered with small bladders, which give the plant a silvery-grey colour.

Most salt-tolerant plants, such as salicornia and sea purslane, absorb seawater until they reach saturation. Common sea lavender is even able to excrete excess absorbed salts! When the weather is sunny and warm, salt crystals can sometimes be found on the bottom of the leaves.