Spartina pectinata
Spartina gracilis
freshwater cordgrass, prairie cordgrass, spartine pectinee
alkali cord grass
to 250 cm tall, 2.5-11 mm thick, solitary or in small clumps, indurate.
40-100 cm tall, 2-3.5 mm thick, usually solitary, erect, terete, indurate, glabrous.
mostly glabrous, throats often pilose;
ligules 1-3 mm;
blades 20-96 cm long, 5-15 mm wide, flat when fresh, becoming involute when dry, glabrous on both surfaces, margins strongly scabrous, blade of the second leaf below the panicles 32-96 cm long, 5-14 mm wide, usually involute.
smooth or striate, mostly or completely glabrous, throats occasionally ciliate;
ligules 0.5-1 mm;
blades 6-30 cm long, 2.5-8 mm wide, flat, becoming involute, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces scabrous, margins scabrous.
10-50 cm, not smooth in outline, with 5-50 branches;
branches 1.5-15 cm, appressed to somewhat spreading, with 10-80 spikelets.
8-25 cm, not smooth in outline, with 3-12 branches;
branches 1.5-8 cm, alternate, differing only slightly in length and spacing within a panicle, usually appressed, rarely spreading, with 10-30 spikelets.
10-25 mm.
6-11 mm, ovate to lanceolate.
shortly awned, glabrous or sparsely hispidulous;
lower glumes 5-10 mm, from 3/4 as long as to equaling the adjacent lemmas, keels hispid, apices awned;
upper glumes 10-25 mm (including the awn), exceeding the florets, glabrous or sparsely hispid, keels scabrous to hispid, trichomes about 0.3 mm, lateral veins usually glabrous (rarely hispid), on either side of, and close to, the keels, apices awned, awns 3-8 mm;
lemmas glabrous, keels pectinate distally, apices bilobed, lobes 0.2-0.9 mm;
anthers 4-6 mm, well-filled, dehiscent.
with glabrous or sparingly hispidulous margins, apices acute or mucronate;
lower glumes 3-7 mm, sides narrow, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, keels glabrous or strigose;
upper glumes 6-10 mm, usually equaling the florets, keels strigose, hairs 0.2-0.5 mm, lateral veins 2, inconspicuous, both on the same side of the keel;
lemmas glabrous or sparsely hirsute, keels hirsute, at least distally, hairs 0.3-1 mm, margins sparsely hairy, apices obtuse to rounded, sometimes obscurely lobed;
paleas sparsely hispid distally, obtuse to slightly rounded;
anthers 2.5-5 mm, well-filled, dehiscent at maturity.
= 40, 40+1, 80.
= 40.
Spartina pectinata
Spartina gracilis
Spartina pectinata is native to Canada and the United States, but it has been introduced at scattered locations on other continents. On the Atlantic coast, it grows in marshes, sloughs, and flood plains, being a common constituent of ice-scoured zones of the northeast and growing equally well in salt and fresh water habitats. In western North America, it grows in both wet and dry soils, including dry prairie habitats and along roads and railroads.
Spartina pectinata is thought to be one of the parents of S. xcaespitosa, the other parent being S. patens.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Spartina gracilis is found on the margins of alkaline lakes and along stream margins and river bottoms. Its range extends from the southern portion of the Northwest Territories, Canada, to central Mexico.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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- Wikipedia
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