Pickleweed

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A plant species that typically grows in salty soils and is often associated with wetlands
2. An herbaceous flora commonly found in coastal wetlands and salt marsh ecosystems
3. A type of plant that thrives in salty environments such as coastal marshes and is known for its succulent, salt-tolerant leaves

Etymology: Pickleweed is a compound of "pickle," in its old sense of brine or a salty liquid used for preserving food, and "weed," a plant that grows where it is not wanted. The name describes the plant's habitat and character: it grows in salt marshes and tidal flats where the ground is soaked in brine, and its fleshy leaves hold enough water to make it seem almost preserved in the stuff. The plant is, in a sense, a living pickle. The "pickle" half of the compound comes from the same root that gave us the food preserved in brine. Its use for a salty liquid, and later for pickled food itself, was already established in English before the plant name formed, so the plant was named by a straightforward comparison: a plant that lives in brine, like something kept in a jar of it.