Barena is the word used by Venetians for emerged shoals with vegetation in the lagoon that are only covered by the highest tides. These areas are generally inhospitable to most plants, but are an ideal habitat for “halophile” species, i.e. plants that need salty soils.

However these shoals or sandbanks differ from each other: reeds and rushes grow well near river outlets where there are streams of fresh water, while Salicornia veneta (Salicornietum venetae) is an annual species of grass that colonises parts of low-lying sandbanks. A dominant plant found in such areas is Puccinellia palustris, a marsh grass that adapts well to the barena habitat, since it withstands regular flooding.

Another shrub that can withstand regular inundation is Limonium sertiinum, while Sea lavender (Limonium Bellidifolium), also thrives around the edges of the lagoon shoals, a species that prefers arid lands with high levels of salinity.

Then there are the Sea rush (Juncus maritimus), a halophile species requiring wet, slightly salty soils (brackish water or fresh water), and the Glasswort (Arthrocnemum fructicosum), a halophile succulent plant that grows in very salty dry soil.

400 - 1000 - until today - rev. 0.1.10