Ethnobotany and phytochemistry of plants dominant in salt marshes of the Lower Saxonian Wadden Sea, southern North Sea

The ethnobotany and phytochemistry of salt marsh plants from the community Asteretea tripolii of the North Sea coast of Lower Saxony, including the adjacent communities of the classes spartinetea and Jhero-Salkornietea , are reviewed. While the typical flora investigated encompasses 85 species only the 24 dominant ones belonging to 15 families have been considered in this review. Since the indigenous knowledge of herbal remediation in North Germany is limited this review also refers to other regions of the world where the use of these species has already been reported. To evaluate the potential for pharmacological or biotechnological uses species of the same genus, where appropriate, are also included.