Plants of the lake follow a natural cycle driven by water and salt concentration. Periodically the Great Salt Lake swells its boundaries and covers the shore with a salty drape, clearing the land of all rooted vegetation. Plants like cattails and bulrush disappear. This is a time of renewal, a natural time of change. Each species tolerates a different range of salt concentration and each has a wonderfully unique adaptation allowing it to deal with excess salt.
Some halophytes store salt solution in special cells.
Some secrete pure salt crystals on the underside of leaves. Others have hairs that burst like balloons when over-inflated with salt water. As rainfall, snowmelt and runoff percolate through the soil, lowering the salt concentration, there is a transition to less salt tolerant species. The face of the land changes as new masks of vegetation replace the old. In areas where surface water lingers longer and along waterways where fresh water enters the lake, emergent vegetation takes root.