Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene
seashore saltgrass (alkali saltgrass (var. stricta); saltgrass; seashore saltgrass (var. spicata))
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
seashore saltgrass (alkali saltgrass (var. stricta); saltgrass; seashore saltgrass (var. spicata))
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information click to expand contents
General:
Perennial, dioecious grass from rhizomes, the rhizomes extensive, sharp-tipped, sometimes more or less stoloniferous; stems solid, sometimes decumbent, 10-40 cm tall/long.
Leaves:
Sheaths smooth except on the summits of the margins, the collars with or without long hairs; blades 2-4 mm wide, mostly in-rolled, smooth or soft-hairy to stiff-hairy on the upper surface; ligules about 0.5 mm long, the margins irregularly jagged, more or less fringed with coarse hairs, the fronts of the collars with many hairs, 0.5-3 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a compact to loose panicle 3-8 cm long, the spikelets and their stalks obvious or the stalks not obvious; spikelets few- to many-flowered, the male ones yellowish, 7- to 16-flowered, strongly compressed, the female more greenish, 5- to 9-flowered; glumes shorter than the lower lemmas, unequal, the lower ones about 3.5 mm long, the upper about 5 mm long; lemmas membranous (male spikelets) or more or less firm-papery (female spikelets), about 3-6 mm long, the female lemmas harder.
Notes:
Two varieties occur in BC
1. Long hairs usually present on the collars as well as at the summits of the sheath margins; plants of the steppe zone..................... var. stricta (Torr.) Beetle
1. Hairs usually lacking on the collars, present only on the summits of the sheath margins; plants maritime....................... var. spicata
USDA Species Characteristics click to expand contents
Flower Colour:
Yellow
Blooming Period:
Mid Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology click to expand contents
Ecological Framework for Distichlis spicata
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
748 | 285 | 1167 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
3 | 0 | 15 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
351 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 3 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
F | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
22 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(1), IDF(13), PP(8) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range click to expand contents
Sandy lake shores and moist alkaline meadows in the steppe zone (var. stricta) or coastal beaches and salt marshes (var. spicata); var. spicata - frequent in SW BC; var. stricta - common in SC BC; var. stricta - E to SK and S to MO, OK, TX and CA; var. spicata - S to CA, disjunct to E coast of North America.
Status Information click to expand contents
Synonyms click to expand contents
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Distichlis spicata subsp. stricta (Torr.) Thorne
Distichlis spicata var. borealis (J. Presl) Beetle
Distichlis spicata var. divaricata Beetle
Distichlis spicata var. nana Beetle
Distichlis spicata var. stolonifera Beetle
Distichlis spicata var. stricta (Torr.) Scribn.
Distichlis stricta (Torr.) Rydb.
Distichlis stricta var. dentata (Rydb.) C.L. Hitchc.
Uniola spicata L.