Abstract
Suaeda japonica M. is a kind of typical halophyte in Japan. The objectives of this study were to clear the response of S. japonica plants under saline environments (0.3(control)), 3 or 6% NaCl treatment cultivation), morphological and physiological features, and utilization of the plants as forage, by comparing with the features of another kind of halophytes, Salicornia europaea L. which is S-type from Okayama prefecture (common name is glasswort or saltwort). Plant heights and dry weights of S. japonica were higher than those of S. europaea at harvest day under 0.3 and 3% NaCl treatment. It was obvious that Na was accumulated more in leaves than in shoots or roots of S. japonica, and Na content of S. japonica plant increased along with the increase of salt treatment concentration. On the other hand, K, Ca and Mg content of S. japonica decreased with the increase of treated salt concentration. Crude protein contents of leaves of S. japonica were increased with the increase of treated salt concentration. Both of halophytes, S. europaea and S. japonica showed very high salt tolerance. Therefore they are very useful to green the salt affected land or as a forage crop because of high content of crude protein. Both halophytes showed high Na content. But S. japonica is more promising than S. europaea as a forage crop because Na content of S. japonica was lower than that of S. europaea.
