Halimione
Halimione is a plant genus from the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It is a sister genus of "Atriplex" and is included in that genus by Plants of the World Online. Description. The species in genus "Halimione" are annual or perennial herbs with silvery grey stems and leaves. Their stems grow prostrate, ascending or erect. The leaves are opposite in lower part and alternate in upper part of the plants. The leaf blade is oblong with entire margins. Plants are monoecious. The spicate inflorescences consist of inconspicuous flowers. Male flowers comprise 4-5 perianth segments and 4-5  stamens. Female flowers have 2 totally concrescent, three-lobed bracteoles which enclose the ovary, a perianth is missing. The pericarp is tightly adherent to the inner side of the bracteoles, and also tightly adherent to the seed. The seed is vertically orientated, with a thin, membraneous seed coat. It is anatomically different from "Atriplex" (which has a brownish, thick and hard seed coat). "Halimione pedunculata" and "Halimione verrucifera" have a chromosome number of 2n = 18, "Halimione portulacoides" 2n = 36. Systematics. The genus has been first described in 1822 as "Halimus" by Karl Friedrich Wallroth (in "Schedulae Criticae", p.  117). But this name was illegitimate, as there existed already "Halimus" Patrick Browne (1756) in family Portulacaceae. replaced this illegitimate name by the valid name "Halimione" in 1938 (in: "Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel", 49, p. 121). Type species is "Halimione pedunculata" (L.) Aellen. During the following years, "Halimione" has sometimes been included in "Atriplex". Molecular phylogenetic research by Kadereit et al. (2010) revealed that "Halimione" is a sister genus of "Atriplex". A 2019 study reached the same conclusion. "Halimione" comprises 3 species in 2 sections: Distribution. "Halimione" is distributed in Europe, North Africa, and Asia, ranging from Southwest  Asia, and Central Asia to China (Xinjiang).