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• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 6
• Spartina
• Spartina cynosuroides

Spartina cynosuroides — big cordgrass

Facts

Big cordgrass is a saltmarsh and brackish marsh grass found on the coasts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as south to the Gulf Coast. It is a highly productive plant that contributes detritus to the tidal wetlands, helping to make them fertile nursery habitat for many fish species.

Habitat

Brackish or salt marshes and flats, marshes

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  4–6 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has an awn

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  1

  Glume awn length

  Up to 2 mm

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume veins

  • 1
  • 3

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence length

  150–400 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched and the branches all grow from the same side of the plant and look like spikes

  Lemma awn base

  NA

  Lemma awn length

  0 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has no awn

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is V-shaped if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma vein number

  • 1
  • 3

  One or more florets

  there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea relative length

  palea is longer than lemma

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet length

  9–14 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  no

  Rhizomes

  yes

  Roots

  the plant has rhizomes (horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel

  Leaf blade width

  6–20 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  1–3 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane with fine hairs

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hairs

  • there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath
  • there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  • aquatic
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island

  Specific habitat

  • brackish or salt marshes and flats
  • marshes

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Stem spacing

  • the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts
  • the stems grow singly or a few together (they may form diffuse colonies)

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae