Prairie cordgrass
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Spartina pectinata Bosc ex Link
Common name(s): prairie cordgrass, freshwater cordgrass, slough grass
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
-
- flowering stem much taller than leaves
-
- flowering, mid-July
-
- inflorescence
-
- fruit, late August
Description:
– perennial
-rhizomatous
-stiff stem
-can grow 6-8 feet in height
-sharp, serrated edges of the leaf blade
-Seedheads are composed of 10 to 20 spikes attached to the main stem
– observed spreading throughout Downeast Maine via roadside ditches. May be confused with S. alterniflora, but only in wetlands; see left sidebar on Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-marshes
-roadsides
-floodplains
Agriculture:
-forms thick stands
- provides cover for birds and mammals
Conservation:
-can be used as erosion control
-used to restore or reconstruct wetlands where prolonged flooding does not occur
Sources:
Bush, Tony. “PRAIRIE CORDGRASSSpartina Pectinata Bosc Ex Link.” Plant Fact Sheet , USDA NRCS Rose Lake Plant Materials Cente, East Lansing, Michigan , Feb. 2002, plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_sppe.pdf.
Acknowledgement(s):
Eric T. Doucette, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Biology, MA College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA (updated Feb 2018)