A sub-evergreen shrub, 3 or 4 ft high, with glabrous, erect branches. Leaves alternate, linear, nearly cylindrical, fleshy, 1⁄4 to 3⁄5 in. long, blue-green, borne at very close intervals on the stem. Flowers small, green, stalkless, one-third as long as the leaves, produced during July in the leaf-axils of the current year’s shoots, either singly or two or three together, insignificant.
Native of the maritime districts of S. and W. Europe, including some parts of the east and south coasts of Britain, and of N. Africa. It has rather a heath-like aspect, with its slender, erect stems and closely set, short leaves – but the latter are, of course, much more thick and fleshy. The shrub has no beauty of flower, but the habit and foliage are sufficiently interesting and graceful for it to be planted in brackish places, or in positions exposed to salt spray where comparatively few shrubs will thrive. It succeeds well in sandy soil, and can be increased by cuttings placed under a handlight. If it gets too ungainly in form it should be pruned back in spring, but the semi-woody shoots are frequently cut back by winter frost.