Puccinellia nuttalliana

Last updated

Puccinellia nuttalliana
Puccinellianuttalliana.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Puccinellia
Species:P. nuttalliana
Binomial name
Puccinellia nuttalliana
(Schult.) Hitchc.
Synonyms

Puccinellia airoides

Puccinellia nuttalliana is a species of grass known by the common name Nuttall's alkaligrass. [1] It is native to North America, where it is widespread from Alaska east throughout Canada to Greenland, and common in the western and central United States. It is present in the Arctic, throughout the temperate mountain ranges, the Great Plains, the Great Basin, and along the western coastline of North America down through California.

Poaceae family of plants

Poaceae or Gramineae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants known as grasses, commonly referred to collectively as grass. Poaceae includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and cultivated lawns and pasture. Grasses have stems that are hollow except at the nodes and narrow alternate leaves borne in two ranks. The lower part of each leaf encloses the stem, forming a leaf-sheath. With around 780 genera and around 12,000 species, Poaceae are the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae.

Alaska State of the United States of America

Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east and southeast. Its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

Greenland Autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark

Greenland is an autonomous constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for more than a millennium. The majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors began migrating from the Canadian mainland in the 13th century, gradually settling across the island.

Puccinellia nuttalliana is a halophytic grass, found in areas with saline soils. This is a perennial bunchgrass that is variable in form, remaining small and clumpy or producing erect stems up to a meter tall. The inflorescence is made up of a few thin, spreading branches which spread further and sometimes become reflexed as the fruit matures.

Halophyte plants that grow in environments of high salinity

A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. These plants do not prefer saline environments but because of their ability to cope with high salinity in various ways they face much less competition in these areas. The word derives from Ancient Greek ἅλας (halas) 'salt' and φυτόν (phyton) 'plant'. An example of a halophyte is the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora. Relatively few plant species are halophytes—perhaps only 2% of all plant species.

Soil salinity process of increasing the salt content

Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the gradual withdrawal of an ocean. It can also come about through artificial processes such as irrigation and road salt.

Inflorescence Term used in botany to describe a cluster of flowers

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. Inflorescence can also be defined as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern.

Related Research Articles

<i>Pascopyrum</i> genus of plants

Pascopyrum is a monotypic genus of grass containing the sole species Pascopyrum smithii, which is known by the common name western wheatgrass, though the common nickname is red-joint wheatgrass, from the red coloration of the nodes. This is a sod-forming rhizomatous perennial grass which is native and common throughout most of North America. It grows in grassland and prairie in the Great Plains, where it is sometimes the dominant grass species. It is the state grass of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

<i>Agrostis exarata</i> species of plant

Agrostis exarata is a species of grass known by the common names spike bentgrass, spike bent, Pacific bentgrass, and spike redtop. It is native to western North America from Texas to the Aleutian Islands.

<i>Puccinellia</i> genus of plants

Puccinellia is a genus of plants in the grass family, known as alkali grass or salt grass.

<i>Blitum nuttallianum</i> species of vascular plants

Blitum nuttallianum, is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common names povertyweed and Nuttall's povertyweed. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and common from Alaska to Mexico to New England. It can be found in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas, often favoring wet places. It is a fleshy annual herb producing two or more erect, reddish, hairless stems up to about 40 centimeters tall. The thick lance-shaped or arrowhead-shaped leaves are up to 4.5 centimeters in length. Clusters of several rounded flowers each appear in the leaf axils and yield small fruits about 2 millimeters wide. Many Native American groups used this plant as a medicine and a food.

<i>Muhlenbergia minutissima</i> species of plant

Muhlenbergia minutissima is a species of grass known by the common name annual muhly. It is native to North America, where it is found throughout the western United States and much of Mexico. It can be found in many habitat types, including disturbed areas.

<i>Muhlenbergia montana</i> species of plant

Muhlenbergia montana, with the common name mountain muhly, is a species of grass. It is native to North and Central America, where it is found throughout the Western United States, the Sierra Nevada, Mexico, and Guatemala.

<i>Muhlenbergia porteri</i> species of plant

Muhlenbergia porteri is a species of grass known by the common names bush muhly and Porter's muhly.

<i>Paspalum dilatatum</i> species of grass

Paspalum dilatatum is a species of grass known by the common name dallisgrass, Dallas grass, or sticky heads. It is native to Brazil and Argentina, but it is known throughout the world as an introduced species and at times a common weed. Its rapid growth and spreading rhizomes make it an invasive pest in some areas. It is present in the southern half of North America, southern Europe, much of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and many tropical and subtropical areas.

<i>Poa howellii</i> species of plant

Poa howellii is a species of grass known by the common name Howell's bluegrass.

<i>Poa leptocoma</i> species of plant

Poa leptocoma is a species of grass known by the common names marsh bluegrass and western bog bluegrass. It is native to western North America from Alaska to New Mexico, where it grows in subalpine and alpine climates and the Arctic. It is also known from the Kamchatka Peninsula.

<i>Puccinellia distans</i> species of plant

Puccinellia distans is a species of grass known by the common names weeping alkaligrass and European alkali grass. It is native to Europe and it is present in most of North America, where it is perhaps an introduced species. It grows in moist habitat, usually in areas with saline soils, such as the edges of salted roads. It is a perennial herb producing hollow stems up to 40 to 60 centimeters in maximum height. The inflorescence is a spreading array of branches, the lower ones reflexed. The branches bear several rough-haired spikelets containing flowers.

Puccinellia howellii is a rare species of grass known by the common name Howell's alkaligrass. It is endemic to Shasta County, California, where it is known from a single population in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area near Whiskeytown and it is feared that the species may now be extinct as a result of the 2018 Carr Fire. Its entire population is contained in a 1-acre (4,000 m2) complex of three saline mineral springs directly next to Highway 299. The grass was first described to science in 1990 and no other populations were discovered despite extensive searches of the area.

<i>Puccinellia lemmonii</i> species of plant

Puccinellia lemmonii is a species of grass known by the common name Lemmon's alkaligrass. It is native to western North America, particularly the northwestern United States, where it grows in moist, saline soils.

Puccinellia nutkaensis is a species of grass known by the common names Nootka alkaligrass and Alaska alkali grass. It is native to North America from Alaska across northern Canada to Greenland and Nova Scotia, and down to Washington to Oregon to the Central Coast of California.

Puccinellia parishii is an uncommon species of grass known by the common names bog alkaligrass and Parish's alkali grass. It is native to the western United States, where it is known from a few locations in Arizona and New Mexico, and one occurrence each in California and Colorado.

Puccinellia pumila is a species of grass known by the common names dwarf akaligrass and smooth alkali grass. It is native to North America where it grows along the coastline in the northern latitudes, from Alaska across Arctic northern Canada to Greenland. It occurs on the coast of the Pacific Northwest in the United States and it is known from the Kamchatka Peninsula. The grass is only found on the coast, in wetland habitat, beaches, and areas inundated by the highest tides, in saline sand and mud. This perennial grass grows decumbent or erect to a maximum height near 40 centimeters, often remaining much smaller, especially in harsh habitat. It may root at stem nodes which become buried in wet substrate. The inflorescence is a dense or open array of branches bearing spikelets.

Puccinellia simplex is a species of grass known by the common names California alkaligrass and western alkali grass. It is native to California, where it grows in mineral springs and other moist habitat with saline soils in the Central Valley, Mojave Desert, and other areas. It is also known from Utah, but occurrences there are probably introduced. This annual grass grows up to about 25 centimeters tall. The inflorescence is generally a linear structure with parallel branches bearing small spikelets.

<i>Sporobolus airoides</i> species of plant

Sporobolus airoides is a species of grass known by the common name alkali sacaton. It is native to western North America, including the Western United States west of the Mississippi River, British Columbia and Alberta in Canada, and northern and central Mexico. It grows in many types of habitat, often in alkali soils, such as in California desert regions.

Sporobolus flexuosus is a species of grass known by the common name mesa dropseed. It is native to western North America, where it can be found in the deserts and woodlands of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico.

<i>Puccinellia maritima</i> species of grass

Puccinellia maritima is a species of grass known by the common names including seaside alkaligrass, common saltmarsh-grass or sea poa grass. It is native to Western Europe and it is present in most of North East North America. It grows in moist, usually saline soils. It can reach a height of 80 cm and has greyish-green leaves.

References

  1. ↑ "Puccinellia nuttalliana". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA . Retrieved 15 October 2015.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.