Sporobolus alterniflorus

rdf:langString Sporobolus alterniflorus

rdf:langString P.M.Peterson & Saarela

rdf:langString Q2697224

rdf:langString Q50346687

rdf:langString

rdf:langString Spartina alterniflora

rdf:langString Dactylis fasciculata

rdf:langString Dactylis maritima

rdf:langString Limnetis glabra

rdf:langString Rottboellia paniculata

rdf:langString Spartina alterniflora var. glabra

rdf:langString Spartina alterniflora var. pilosa

rdf:langString Spartina bahiensis

rdf:langString Spartina brasiliensis

rdf:langString Spartina dissitiflora

rdf:langString Spartina fasciculata

rdf:langString Spartina glabra var. alterniflora

rdf:langString Spartina glabra var. pilosa

rdf:langString Spartina laevigata

rdf:langString Spartina maritima subsp. glabra

rdf:langString Spartina maritima subvar. fallax

rdf:langString Spartina maritima subvar. pilosa

rdf:langString Spartina maritima subvar. radii

rdf:langString Spartina maritima var. alterniflora

rdf:langString Spartina maritima var. brasiliensis

rdf:langString Spartina maritima var. glabra

rdf:langString Spartina stricta var. alterniflora

rdf:langString Spartina stricta var. maritima

rdf:langString Trachynotia alterniflora

rdf:langString Sporobolus alterniflorus

rdf:langString Sporobolus alterniflorus, or synonymously known as Spartina alterniflora, the smooth cordgrass, saltmarsh cordgrass, or salt-water cordgrass, is a perennial deciduous grass which is found in intertidal wetlands, especially estuarine salt marshes. It has been reclassified as Sporobolus alterniflorus after a taxonomic revision in 2014, but it is still common to see Spartina alterniflora and in 2019 an interdisciplinary team of experts coauthored a report published in the journal Ecology supporting Spartina as a genus. It grows 1–1.5 m (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) tall and has smooth, hollow stems that bear leaves up to 20–60 cm (7.9 in – 1 ft 11.6 in) long and 1.5 cm (1⁄2 in) wide at their base, which are sharply tapered and bend down at their tips. Like its relative saltmeadow cordgrass S. patens, it produces flowers and seeds on only one side of the stalk. The flowers are a yellowish-green, turning brown by the winter. It has rhizoidal roots, which, when broken off, can result in vegetative asexual growth. The roots are an important food resource for snow geese. It can grow in low marsh (frequently inundated by the tide) as well as high marsh (less frequently inundated), but it is usually restricted to low marsh because it is outcompeted by salt meadow cordgrass in the high marsh. It grows in a wide range of salinities, from about 5 psu to marine (32 psu), and has been described as the "single most important marsh plant species in the estuary" of Chesapeake Bay. It is described as intolerant of shade. S. alterniflorus is noted for its capacity to act as an environmental engineer. It grows out into the water at the seaward edge of a salt marsh, and accumulates sediment and enables other habitat-engineering species, such as mussels, to settle. This accumulation of sediment and other substrate-building species gradually builds up the level of the land at the seaward edge, and other, higher-marsh species move onto the new land. As the marsh accretes, S. alterniflorus moves still further out to form a new edge. S. alterniflorus grows in tallest forms at the outermost edge of a given marsh, displaying shorter morphologies up onto the landward side of the Sporobolus belt. S. alterniflorus is native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas from Newfoundland, Canada, south to northern Argentina, where it forms a dominant part of brackish coastal saltmarshes. The caterpillars of Aaron's skipper (Poanes aaroni) have only been found on this species to date.