As rising seas salinise the soils of the Venice lagoon, scientists and chefs are turning to long-forgotten wild herbs

On the scrubby banks of the rural swathes of the Venice lagoon, an evening chorus of cicadas underscores the distant whine of farmers’ three-wheeled minivans. Dotted along the brackish fringes of the cultivated plots are scatterings of silvery-green bushes – sea fennel.

This plant is a member of a group of remarkable organisms known as halophytes – plant species that thrive in saltwater. Long overlooked and found growing in the in-between spaces – saltmarshes, coastlines, the fringes of lagoons – halophytes straddle boundaries in both ecosystems and cuisines. But with shifting agricultural futures, this may be about to change.