Spartina patens (Saltmeadow Cordgrass)

Spartina patens (Saltmeadow Cordgrass) is a tufted, perennial, warm-season grass that grows solitary or in small clumps from widely spreading slender rhizomes. The slender, light green leaves are deciduous, with new growth each year. From spring to fall, small flowers borne in open dark-colored panicles, 2-3 in. long (5-7 cm), are on display. They give way to tiny, inconspicuous fruits (grains). Saltmeadow Cordgrass reproduces both through seed and vegetative rhizomatous roots. Found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Newfoundland to Texas, Saltmeadow Cordgrass can be seen growing in brackish marshes, low dunes, sand flats, beaches, and high salt marshes. It provides important habitat for muskrats, mink, otters, and alligators and homes for a host of songbirds and other wildlife species. Nutria eats the rhizomes in late summer and winter. Blue geese and snow geese feed on new foliage early in the spring in burned marshes. Saltmeadow Cordgrass can be used as a ground cover in saline sites, beachfront stabilization, salt marsh restoration projects or to beautify retention ponds or canal banks.

• Grows up to 2-3 ft. tall (60-90 cm). Will quickly form large colonies.
• Performs best in full sun in wet sandy soils. It has the capacity to tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, including floods, salty wind, and salt spray without injury.
• Needs little care and has no serious pest or disease issues.
• Native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Newfoundland south along the eastern United States to the Caribbean and northeast Mexico.
• Saltmeadow Cordgrass causes many problems on the west coast as it is able to successfully compete against native vegetation, sometimes completely replacing it. It also converts much of the mudflats to high marsh which has a negative effect on feeding areas, nesting areas, resting sites, and shellfish production.