View source for Spartina alterniflora

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Spartina alterniflora
|accepted_authority=Loisel.
|publications=
|common_names=Smooth cordgrass;Spartine alterniflore
|basionyms=
|synonyms={{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Spartina alterniflora var. pilosa
|authority=
|rank=variety
}} {{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Spartina alterniflora var. glabra
|authority=
|rank=variety
}}
|hierarchy=Poaceae;Poaceae subfam. Chloridoideae;Poaceae tribe Cynodonteae;Spartina;Spartina alterniflora
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Poaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>subfamily</small>[[Poaceae subfam. Chloridoideae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>tribe</small>[[Poaceae tribe Cynodonteae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Spartina]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>species</small>[[Spartina alterniflora]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 25
|mention_page=
|treatment_page=page 244
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Plants </b>rhizomatous; rhizomes elongate, flaccid, white, scales inflated, not or only slightly imbricate. <b>Culms</b> to 250 cm tall, (0.3)5-15(20) mm thick, erect, solitary or in small clumps, succulent, glabrous, having an unpleasant, sulphurous odor when fresh. <b>Sheaths</b> mostly glabrous, throat glabrous or minutely pilose, lower sheaths often wrinkled; ligules 1-2 mm; blades to 60 cm long, 3-25 mm wide, lower blades shorter than those above, usually flat basally, becoming involute distally, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces glabrous or sparsely pilose, margins usually smooth, sometimes slightly scabrous, apices attenuate. <b>Panicles</b> 10-40 cm, with 3-25 branches, often partially enclosed in the uppermost sheath; branches 5-15 cm, loosely appressed, not twisted, more or less equally subremote to moderately imbricate throughout the panicle, axes often prolonged beyond the distal spikelets, with 10-30 spikelets. <b>Spikelets</b> 8-14 mm, straight, usually divergent, more or less equally imbricate on all the branches. <b>Glumes</b> straight, sides usually glabrous, sometimes pilose near the base or appressed pubescent, hairs to 0.3 mm; lower glumes 4-10 mm, acute; upper glumes 8-14 mm, keels glabrous, lateral veins not present, apices acuminate to obtuse, occasionally apiculate; lemmas glabrous or sparsely pilose, apices usually acuminate; paleas slightly exceeding the lemmas, thin, papery, apices obtuse or rounded; anthers 3-6 mm. <b>2n</b> = 62.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=Conn.;N.J.;N.Y.;Wash.;Del.;Fla.;N.H.;Tex.;La.;N.C.;S.C.;Ala.;Miss.;R.I.;Va.;Calif.;Ga.;N.B.;Nfld. and Labr. (Labr.);N.S.;P.E.I.;Que.;Maine;Md.;Mass.;Oreg.
|discussion=<p><i>Spartina alterniflora</i> is found on muddy banks, usually of the intertidal zone, in eastern North and South America, but it is not known from Central America. In addition, it has become established on the west coast of North America, and in England and southeastern France. It hybridizes with <i>S. maritima</i> in Europe, with <i>S. pectinata</i> in Massachusetts, and with <i>S. foliosa</i> in California.</p><!--
--><p>The rhizomes and scales of <i>S. alterniflora</i> have large air spaces, presumably an adaptation to the anaerobic soils of its usual habitat. Decaploid plants tend to be larger than octoploids, but they cannot be reliably distinguished without a chromosome count.</p><!--
--><p><i>Spartina alterniflora</i> is considered a serious threat to coastal ecosystems in Washington and California. It out-competes many of the native species in these habitats and frequently invades mud flats and channels, converting them to marshlands. Pure <i>S. alterniflora</i> grows within the lower elevational marsh zones in its native range but, in San Francisco Bay, its hybrids with <i>S. foliosa</i> grow both below and above the range of that species.</p><!--
--><p><i>Spartina alterniflora</i> is now a major weed problem in southeastern China (Normile 2004).</p>
|tables=
|references={{Treatment/Reference
|id=normile2004a
|text=Normile, D. 2004. Expanding trade with China creates ecological backlash. Science 306:968-969
}}
}}<!--

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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Spartina alterniflora
|authority=Loisel.
|rank=species
|parent rank=genus
|synonyms=Spartina alterniflora var. pilosa;Spartina alterniflora var. glabra
|basionyms=
|family=Poaceae
|illustrator=Linda A. Vorobik;Linda Bea Miller
|illustration copyright=Utah State University
|distribution=Conn.;N.J.;N.Y.;Wash.;Del.;Fla.;N.H.;Tex.;La.;N.C.;S.C.;Ala.;Miss.;R.I.;Va.;Calif.;Ga.;N.B.;Nfld. and Labr. (Labr.);N.S.;P.E.I.;Que.;Maine;Md.;Mass.;Oreg.
|reference=normile2004a
|publication title=
|publication year=
|special status=
|source xml=https://bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation/src/200273ad09963decb8fc72550212de541d86569d/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V25/V25_854.xml
|subfamily=Poaceae subfam. Chloridoideae
|tribe=Poaceae tribe Cynodonteae
|genus=Spartina
|species=Spartina alterniflora
}}<!--

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[[Category:Treatment]]
[[Category:Spartina]]
[[Category:Revised Since Print]]