Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Spartina pectinata
freshwater cordgrass, prairie cordgrass
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; northern Washington to Oregon, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.

Habitat: Ditches, ponds, and freshwater marshes.

Flowers: June-August

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Sensitive in Washington (WANHP)

Pollination: Wind

Description:
General:

Strongly rhizomatous perennial, the culms 8-15 dm. tall, smooth and hollow.

Leaves:

Sheaths open, throat hairy only at the top; ligules 2-3 mm. long, composed chiefly of a fringe of fine, straight hairs; blades involute, at least 5 mm. broad at the base.

Flowers:

Inflorescence of several to many spikes, erect, not crowded, 4-9 cm. long, arranged in a raceme; spikelets 1-flowered, articulate below the glumes, borne in two rows on one side of the rachis, closely crowded; glumes scabrous, the first very narrow, about 6.5 mm. long including the awn tip, the second exceeding the floret, 8-9 mm. long exclusive of the stout awn 2-4 mm. long; lemma keeled, 1-nerved, about 8 mm. long, shorter than the delicate, 2-nerved palea.

Accepted Name:
Spartina pectinata Link
Publication: Jahrb. Gewächsk. 1(3): 92-93. 1820.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Spartina michauxiana Hitchc.
Spartina pectinata Link var. suttiei (Farw.) Fernald
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Spartina pectinata in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Spartina pectinata checklist entry

OregonFlora: Spartina pectinata information

E-Flora BC: Spartina pectinata atlas page

CalPhotos: Spartina pectinata photos

18 photographs:
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