Suaeda monoica, a C4 [carbon fixation pathway] plant without typical bundle sheaths

Suaeda monoica Forssk. ex J. F. Gmel was found to possess the C4 pathway of photosynthesis. The succulent leaves of Suaeda lack a green bundle sheath formation but have a layer of chlorenchyma, containing large and centripetally arranged chloroplasts, which surrounds the water tissue. We suggest that the proximity of a chlorenchymatous cell layer to the vascular bundles is not necessary for the operation of the C4 pathway.