Dear All,
In addition I have seen and have photos of halophytic higher plants
(Suaeda spp.) growing on the sandy shore right next to the Dead Sea.
All around them is a solid crust of salt! You might also want to look
at:
YAKIR, D., YECHIELI, Y. (1995) Plant invasion of newly exposed
hypersaline Dead Sea shores. Nature 374, 803-805.
I seem to remember the authors suggested that the plants obtained some
fresh water from deeper sources. Even so these must be very tough
plants- not only are they dealing with salinity, but temperatures
often reach 45oC!!
Best Wishes,
Martin Hodson