Spartina

Spartina, commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, is a genus of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes.

Contents

• How to identify salt marsh cordgrass spartina alterniflora
• Smooth cord grass salt marsh cord grass spartina alterniflora
• Cultivation
• Ecology
• As an invasive species
• References

The genus name is derived from σπαρτίνη (spartiné), the Greek word for a cord made from Spanish broom (Spartium junceum). They are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Europe, northwest and southern Africa, the Americas and the southern Atlantic Ocean islands; one or two species also occur on the North American Pacific Ocean coast and in freshwater habitats inland in the Americas. The highest species diversity is on the east coasts of North and South America, particularly Florida.

They form large, often dense colonies, particularly on coastal salt marshes, and grow quickly. The species vary in size from 0.3–2 m tall. Many of the species will produce hybrids if they come into contact.

1. Spartina alterniflora Loisel. – smooth cordgrass - Atlantic coasts of North + South America, West Indies
2. Spartina anglica C.E.Hubb. – common cordgrass - Great Britain; introduced scattered other places
3. Spartina arundinacea (Thouars) Carmich - Tristan da Cunha, Amsterdam Island in Indian Ocean
4. Spartina bakeri Merr. – sand cordgrass - southeastern USA
5. Spartina × caespitosa A.A.Eaton – short cordgrass - eastern USA + Canada (PEI to VA)
6. Spartina ciliata Brongn. - Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay
7. Spartina cynosuroides (L.) Roth – big cordgrass - eastern USA (TX to MA); Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Bahamas
8. Spartina densiflora Brongn. – denseflower cordgrass - Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile
9. Spartina foliosa Trin. – California cordgrass - California, Baja California, Baja California Sur
10. Spartina gracilis Trin. – alkali cordgrass - western Canada, western + central USA, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Michoacán
11. Spartina longispica Hauman & Parodi ex St.-Yves - Argentina, Uruguay
12. Spartina maritima (Curtis) Fernald – small cordgrass - Great Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Morocco, Mauritania, Namibia, South Africa
13. Spartina patens (Aiton) Muhl – saltmeadow cordgrass - east coast of North America from Labrador to Tamaulipas; West Indies
14. Spartina pectinata Bosc ex Link – prairie cordgrass from Northwest Territories to Texas + Newfoundland
15. Spartina spartinae (Trin.) Merr. ex Hitchc. – Gulf cordgrass - Atlantic coast of North America from Florida to Argentina, incl Caribbean + Gulf of Mexico
16. Spartina × townsendii H.Groves & J.Groves (S. alterniflora × S. maritima) – Townsend's cordgrass - western Europe
17. Spartina versicolor Fabre - Mediterranean, Azores

see Bouteloua Crypsis Dactylis Digitaria