Sea Rocket

Did you know

• Sea rocket is one of the few plants that can germinate and complete its life cycle in pure, unstabilized driftline sand — its seeds are among the most salt-tolerant in the plant kingdom and survive long immersion in seawater.
• The seed pods are uniquely structured as two-part rockets: the upper segment detaches and is dispersed by sea currents, while the lower segment stays on the parent plant and germinates locally — two dispersal strategies in one fruit.
• Sea rocket is a keystone species of strandline and foredune communities, and its decaying biomass provides the nitrogen-rich organic matter needed by marram grass and other dune-building plants to colonize bare sand.
• The peppery, succulent leaves are edible and have been eaten by coastal peoples across its range; they taste similar to sea kale or horseradish and have been used in Scandinavian and North African cuisines.
• Naturalized sea rocket populations are now established on beaches across North America, South America, South Africa, and Australia — spread through the global movement of ship ballast water in the colonial era.

Color meanings

Uses

• coastal stabilization
• edible
• wildlife habitat