BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Spartina patens | Saltmeadow Cordgrass 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Saltmeadow cordgrass is a tufted, perennial, warm-season grass.  Height
ranges from 1 to 5 feet (0.3 to 1.5 m).  Growth is solitary or in small
clumps from widely spreading, slender, wiry rhizomes [9,28].  Root
aerenchyma develop in response to flooding in existing and newly
developed roots [4].



RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Saltmeadow cordgrass reproduces both by seed and rhizomes.  Flowers are
wind-pollinated [16].  High percent germination was obtained with a 65
to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 35 deg C) alternating diurnal
thermoperiod [22].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Saltmeadow cordgrass grows in brackish marshes, low dunes, sand flats,
beaches, overwash areas, and high salt marshes [5,9,25,28].  Normal
annual precipitation averages 47 to 59 inches (119-150 cm).  Two major
edaphic conditions are found where saltmeadow cordgrass dominates.  One
occurs on peat deposits of varying depths.  The other is mineral soil of
outwash material or soils deposited by tidal and wave action [1].

Saltmeadow cordgrass is found exclusively in brackish marshes in
Louisiana and is by far the most frequent and abundant grass, probably
constituting over 50 percent of the total marsh vegetation.  Although it
dominates brackish marshes, it is very rare in saline marshes.  Salt
content of the soil water where it grows ranges from 0.12 to 3.91
percent.  However, its greatest abundance is reached where salinity and
water levels are lowest [26].  Saltmeadow cordgrass, needle rush (Juncus
roemerianus), and saltgrass are the 3 dominants in brackish marshes.
Saltmeadow cordgrass is the least tolerant of salt and is replaced by
the other two in strongly saline areas [27].

In New England salt marshes, the most predictable plant zonation occurs
at the mean high water line, separating the low and high marsh habitats.
Saltmeadow cordgrass dominates the seaward border of the high marsh
habitats.  Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) dominates the low
marsh habitats because it is more able to oxygenate its roots in reduced
soils than saltmeadow cordgrass.  Black-grass (Juncus gerardi)
competitively excludes saltmeadow cordgrass from the terrestrial border
[3].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Saltmeadow cordgrass is dominant in the saltmeadow marsh, the third
stage of salt marsh succession.  Olney bulrush (Scirpus olneyi) is
codominant in the fresher portions.  Needle rush is the most important
subdominant in the more saline areas.  Saltgrass is a common secondary
species.  Edaphic climaxes where saltmeadow cordgrass forms a heavy mat
of vegetation occur if the marsh is not burned frequently [18].

Root burns cause Olney bulrush and saltmarsh bulrush (Scirpus robustus)
temporarily to dominate saltmeadow cordgrass.  The rushes have a deeper
root system, resprout more quickly following fire, and grow at a faster
rate than saltmeadow cordgrass.  They remain dominant for 2 or 3 years
until saltmeadow cordgrass crowds them out [13].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Flowering of saltmeadow cordgrass varies from June to September in the
Carolinas [9,28], May to October in Florida [7], and May to November in
Texas [16].  In Louisiana saltmeadow cordgrass blooms once in the spring
and once in the fall due to the long frost-free season [18].

Related categories for Species: Spartina patens | Saltmeadow Cordgrass