Glasswort
The common name glasswort came into use in the 16th century to describe plants growing in England whose ashes could be used for making soda-based (as opposed to potash-based) glass. The glassworts are succulent, annual "halophytes", or plants that thrive in saline environments, such as seacoasts and salt marshes. While the original English glasswort plants belong to the genus Salicornia, the term has been extended over the years to halophyte plants from several genera, some of which are native to continents unknown to the medieval English, and growing in ecosystems, such as mangrove swamps, never envisioned when the term glasswort was coined.
Industrial uses
The ashes of glasswort plants, and also of their Mediterranean counterpart saltwort plants, yield soda ash, which is an important ingredient for glassmaking and soapmaking. Soda ash is an alkali whose active ingredient is now known to be sodium carbonate. Glasswort and saltwort plants sequester the sodium they absorb from salt water into their tissues (see Salsola soda). Ashing of the plants converts some of this sodium into sodium carbonate (or "soda," in one of the old uses of the term).
Podcasts:
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by Leona Lewis
Glassheart
by: Leona LewisTragic, broken like a china door
Burning like a gun shot
My heart is breaking
It always hurts
And through each other
Down on the floor
My heart is breaking
It's made of glass
And anything that's good never ever lasts
(Chorus)
So baby if you love me, let me know
'Cause everything hurts just like before
Your about to tear this heart apart
I love you like a glass heart
So baby if you love me, let me know
'Cause everytime you touch, touch turn to go
Promise I will never fall apart
And I love you with my glass heart (x3)
Running round, staring at our empty room
Staring at the window
I hear music that we used to make
But maybe I shouldn't though
My heart was beatin'
And so was yours
And through each other
Down on the floor
My heart is breaking
It's made of glass
And anything that's good never ever lasts
(Chorus)
So baby if you love me, let me know
'Cause everything hurts just like before
Your about to tear this heart apart
And break another glass heart
So baby if you love me, let me know
'Cause everytime you touch, touch turn to go
Promise I will never fall apart
And I love you with my glass heart (x3)
And you promised not to let me fall apart
Fall apart
And I love you with my glass heart
So baby if you love me, let me know
'Cause everytime you touch, touch turn to go
Promise I will never fall apart