OregonFlora: Triglochin maritima vs. Triglochin concinna

	Triglochin maritima	Triglochin concinna
	seaside arrow-grass	graceful arrow-grass, slender arrow-grass
Habit	Herbs perennial.	Herbs perennial.
Leaves	elliptical in cross section, 22–60 cm × 2–5 mm; ligules entire to notched, 1–2 mm.	round in cross section, 7–18.5 cm × 1–1.5 mm; ligules deeply bilobed; about 1 mm.
Inflorescences	racemes exceeding leaves, 45–130 cm.	racemes mostly exceeding leaves; (8.5)13– 60 cm.
Pedicels	ascending, 2–6 mm.	stiffly ascending, 1.5–4 mm.
Flowers	tepals 1.5–2 mm, fertile carpels 6.	tepals 1.5–2 mm, fertile carpels 6.
Fruits	schizocarps, oblong, 3–5 mm.	schizocarps, linear-clavate, 3–4 mm.
2n	=12, 24, 30, 36, 48, 60, 120, 144.	=48, 96.

	Triglochin maritima	Triglochin concinna
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[BONAP county map]
Discussion	Coastal salt and inland freshwater marshes and moist meadows, especially brackish, saline, or alkaline areas. Flowering Apr–Aug. 0–1700m. BR, BW, CR, ECas, Est, Owy. CA, ID, NV, WA; throughout North America; South America; Asia, Europe. Native. Triglochin concinna and T. maritima are frequently considered the same species; the treatment in Flora of North America synonymizes T. concinna with T. maritima (Haynes and Hellquist 2000). Both species produce a cyanide-containing sugar called triglochinin, which can poison livestock when eaten in large amounts. Production is highest in the spring (Majak et al. 1980), and because the compound remains potent in a dried state, care should be taken to prevent inclusion of young Triglochin in hay bales.	Coastal salt and inland freshwater marshes and moist meadows, especially brackish, saline, or alkaline areas. Flowering Apr–Jul. 0–1100m. BR, ECas, Est, Owy. Throughout North America, South America; Asia, Europe. Native.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 289 Rachel Newton	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 289 Rachel Newton
Sibling taxa	T. concinna, T. palustris, T. scilloides, T. striata	T. maritima, T. palustris, T. scilloides, T. striata
Synonyms	Triglochin maritimum	Triglochin concinna var. concinna, Triglochin concinna var. debilis
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Triglochin concinna

seaside arrow-grass

graceful arrow-grass, slender arrow-grass

Habit

Herbs perennial.

Leaves

elliptical in cross section, 22–60 cm × 2–5 mm;

ligules entire to notched, 1–2 mm.

round in cross section, 7–18.5 cm × 1–1.5 mm;

ligules deeply bilobed; about 1 mm.

Inflorescences

racemes exceeding leaves, 45–130 cm.

racemes mostly exceeding leaves; (8.5)13– 60 cm.

Pedicels

ascending, 2–6 mm.

stiffly ascending, 1.5–4 mm.

Flowers

tepals 1.5–2 mm, fertile carpels 6.

Fruits

schizocarps, oblong, 3–5 mm.

schizocarps, linear-clavate, 3–4 mm.

=12, 24, 30, 36, 48, 60, 120, 144.

=48, 96.

Triglochin concinna

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Coastal salt and inland freshwater marshes and moist meadows, especially brackish, saline, or alkaline areas. Flowering Apr–Aug. 0–1700m. BR, BW, CR, ECas, Est, Owy. CA, ID, NV, WA; throughout North America; South America; Asia, Europe. Native.

Triglochin concinna and T. maritima are frequently considered the same species; the treatment in Flora of North America synonymizes T. concinna with T. maritima (Haynes and Hellquist 2000). Both species produce a cyanide-containing sugar called triglochinin, which can poison livestock when eaten in large amounts. Production is highest in the spring (Majak et al. 1980), and because the compound remains potent in a dried state, care should be taken to prevent inclusion of young Triglochin in hay bales.

Coastal salt and inland freshwater marshes and moist meadows, especially brackish, saline, or alkaline areas. Flowering Apr–Jul. 0–1100m. BR, ECas, Est, Owy. Throughout North America, South America; Asia, Europe. Native.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 289
Rachel Newton

Sibling taxa

T. concinna, T. palustris, T. scilloides, T. striata

T. maritima, T. palustris, T. scilloides, T. striata

Synonyms

Triglochin maritimum

Triglochin concinna var. concinna, Triglochin concinna var. debilis

Web links