Prairie cordgrass

Description

Spartina pectinata is a species of cordgrass known as prairie cordgrass, freshwater cordgrass, tall marshgrass, and sloughgrass. It is native to much of North America, including central and eastern Canada and most of the contiguous United States except for the southwestern and southeastern regions. Its distribution extends into Mexico. It is also present on other continents as an introduced species. This grass has hard, sturdy, hollow stems that may reach 3 m (9.8 ft) in height. They grow from a network of woody rhizomes and tough roots that form a sod. The roots penetrate over 3 m (9.8 ft) into the soil. The leaves have sharp, serrated edges. The panicle may be up to 50 cm (20 in) long and may have many branches. Each spikelet is up to 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in length. This grass can spread via its rhizome, producing large monotypic stands. This plant can grow in a variety of habitat types, but it is a facultative wetland species, most often found in wet habitats. These include fens, wet prairies, rivers, floodplains, ponds, moraines, and marshes. The grass is tolerant of water, but it does not tolerate prolonged flooding. Its dense root network stabilizes soil, even in areas where it would be eroded by flowing water. The larvae of Photedes inops host on Spartina pectinata, apparently exclusively. Livestock may graze on this plant when it is young, but once it matures it becomes very coarse and unpalatable. This species has been investigated as a possible source of biofuel. Spartina, commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, is a genus of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. 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.