Triglochin maritima
Triglochin
arrow-grass, common arrow-grass, saltmarsh arrow-grass, seaside arrow-grass, troscart maritime
arrow-grass, troscart
occasionally with tubers.
stout.
erect from sheath, mostly shorter than scape, 2.2–11.5 cm;
sheath 0.7–2.5 cm × 1–1.8 mm, ligule occasionally hoodlike, apically 2-lobed;
blade 0.9–1.4 mm wide, apex obtuse to round.
erect, terete;
sheath with ligule apically entire or 2-lobed.
scape often purple near base, mostly exceeding leaves, 1–16.5 cm × 0.5–1 mm;
racemes 6–45 cm × 1.5–7 mm;
pedicel 1–4 × 0.2–0.3 mm.
spikelike racemes, scapose;
scapes shorter than to longer than leaves.
tepals elliptic, 1.3–1.7 × 0.6–1.4 mm, apex acute;
pistils 6, all fertile.
bisexual, of 1 type, short-pedicellate;
tepals 6, in 2 series, distinct, yellow-green, conchiform;
stamens 4 or 6;
anthers nearly sessile;
pistils 6, 3 fertile, 3 sterile or 6 fertile, separating when mature;
ovules 1 per locule;
styles absent.
fruiting receptacle without wings;
schizocarps linear to near globose, 2–4.5 × 1.5–2 mm;
mericarps linear to linear-obovate, weakly ridged, 1.5–3.5 × 0.7–1 mm, beak erect to recurved, 0.2 mm.
schizocarps, globose to linear in fruit;
mericarps 3 or 6.
= 6.
= 12, 24, 36, 48, 120.
Triglochin maritima
Triglochin
This taxon has been separated into Triglochin concinna and T. maritima based upon the lobing of the ligule and the smaller size of the plants of the former (e.g., J. L. Reveal 1977; R. F. Thorne 1993). On a local basis such a separation seems warranted. Examination of the T. maritima complex throughout the Americas, however, reveals continuous variation from small, widely spaced plants with 2-lobed ligules to large, tufted plants with unlobed ligules, including plants with all combinations of those characters.
Triglochin maritima is important in livestock management because it is quite toxic: it is a cyanide producer.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The fruit type of Triglochin has been variously denominated interpreted. We follow R. M. T. Dahlgren et al. (1985), who considered the fruits to be schizocarps with 1-seeded mericarps.
Although Linnaeus, in his original publication of the name, treated Triglochin as neuter, botanical tradition in North America and elsewhere has generally assigned feminine gender (ICBN International Code of Botanical Nomenlature, Art. 62.1); for this reason and because the Greek word gGlochin (g l w c i n ) is feminine (ICBN, Art. 62.2), the feminine gender is the more correct under the Code and is adopted in the Flora. The use of the neuter gender in some recent works appears to reflect a pre-1987 wording of the Code that was held to require adoption of the gender assigned by the original author.
Species ca. 12 (4 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Fertile pistils 6; fruiting receptacle without wings; ligule apically 2-lobed. | → 2 |
1. Fertile pistils 3; fruiting receptacle with wings; ligule apically entire. | → 3 |
2. Leaves typically shorter than scape, slender to thickish, erect from sheath; racemes 6–45 cm | T. maritima |
2. Leaves usually equaling scape, very slender, curving outward from sheath at 30–50° angle; racemes 2–7 cm | T. gaspensis |
3. Schizocarps linear; mericarps weakly ridged, more than 5 mm | T. palustris |
3. Schizocarps globose; mericarps strongly 3-keeled, less than 2 mm | T. striata |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local floras: 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
