Sporobolus maritimus

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Sporobolus maritimus
Planton de Spartina maritima.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Sporobolus
Species:
S. maritimus
Binomial name
Sporobolus maritimus
(Curtis) P.M.Peterson & Saarela
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Cynodon pungens Raspail
    • Dactylis maritima Curtis
    • Dactylis stricta Aiton
    • Limnetis pungens Rich.
    • Paspalum strictum (Aiton) Brot.
    • Poa ternitana Spreng. ex Link
    • Rottboellia stricta (Aiton) Steud.
    • Spartina capensis Nees
    • Spartina intermedia Bosc ex St.-Yves
    • Spartina maritima (Curtis) Fernald
    • Spartina pungens P.Beauv.
    • Spartina schreberi J.F.Gmel.
    • Spartina stricta (Aiton) Roth
    • Trachynotia stricta (Aiton) DC.

Sporobolus maritimus, or synonymously as Spartina maritima, the small cordgrass, [2] is a species of cordgrass native to the coasts of western and southern Europe and western Africa, from the Netherlands west across southern England to southern Ireland, and south along the Atlantic coast to Morocco and also on the Mediterranean Sea coasts. There is also a disjunct population on the Atlantic coasts of Namibia and South Africa.

Contents

Description

Sporobolus maritimus is a coarse, robust, herbaceous perennial plant growing gregariously from a creeping rootstock. The plant is 20 to 70 cm (8 to 28 in) tall, green in spring and summer, and turning light brown in autumn and winter. The leaves are slender, 10 to 40 cm (4 to 16 in) long, and 0.5 to 1 cm (0.2 to 0.4 in) broad at the base, tapering to a blunt point. The inflorescence is a group of two or three unbranched spikes up to 15 cm (6 in) long, each with several unstalked, one-flowered, downy spikelets about 1.25 cm (0.5 in) long, which are produced on all sides of the stalk and closely pressed against it. The pointed stem tip does not overtop the highest spikelet. The flowers are greenish, turning yellowish-brown by the winter. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Sporobolus maritimus is native to the west-facing coasts of Europe and North Africa. It occupies a range of habitats including very soft mud and shingle, in minimally exposed areas, away from strong wave action. It occurs on the seaward margins of saltmarshes and creeks and may be plentiful in dried up pools in the upper parts of saltmarshes. In the British Isles, it occurs in estuaries in Essex and in the Solent. [4]

Hybridisation and decline

When the related American species Sporobolus alterniflorus (smooth cordgrass) was introduced to southern England in about 1870, it hybridised with S. maritimus to give the hybrid Sporobolus × townsendii. This then gave rise to a new allotetraploid species Sporobolus anglicus (common cordgrass), which is much more vigorous, and has now largely ousted S. maritimus from much of its native range in Western Europe. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Spartina</i> Genus of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae

Spartina is a taxon of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Its species are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Europe, north-western and southern Africa, the Americas and the islands of the southern Atlantic Ocean; one or two species also occur on the western coast of North America and in freshwater habitats inland in the Americas. The highest species diversity is on the east coasts of North and South America, particularly Florida. They form large, often dense colonies, particularly on coastal salt marshes, and grow quickly. The species vary in size from 0.3–2 m tall. Many of the species will produce hybrids if they come into contact.

<i>Dactylis</i> Genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae

Dactylis is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the bluegrass subfamily within the grass family. Dactylis is native to North Africa, they are found throughout the world, and are an invasive species. They are known in English as cock's-foot or cocksfoot grasses, also sometimes as orchard grasses.

Sea beet

The sea beet, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima, is a member of the family Amaranthaceae, previously of the Chenopodiaceae. Carl Linnaeus first described Beta vulgaris in 1753; in the second edition of Species Plantarum in 1762, he divided the species into wild and cultivated varieties, giving the name Beta maritima to the wild taxon. The sea beet is native to the coasts of Europe, northern Africa, and southern Asia.

<i>Sporobolus alterniflorus</i> Species of aquatic plant

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 tall and has smooth, hollow stems that bear leaves up to 20–60 cm long and 1.5 cm 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 as well as high marsh, 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, 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.

<i>Sporobolus anglicus</i> Species of grass in the family Poaceae

Sporobolus anglicus is a species of cordgrass that originated in southern England in about 1870 and is a neonative species in Britain. It was reclassified as Sporobolus anglicus after a taxonomic revision in 2014, but Spartina anglica is still in common usage. It is an allotetraploid species derived from the hybrid Sporobolus × townsendii, which arose when the European native cordgrass Sporobolus maritimus hybridised with the introduced American Sporobolus alterniflorus.

<i>Sporobolus heterolepis</i> Species of flowering plant

Sporobolus heterolepis, commonly known as prairie dropseed, is a species of prairie grass native to the tallgrass and mixed grass prairies of central North America from Texas to southern Canada. It is also found further east, to the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada, but is much less common beyond the Great Plains and is restricted to specialized habitats. It is found in 27 states and four Canadian provinces.

<i>Bromus madritensis</i> Species of grass

Bromus madritensis is a species of brome grass known by the common name compact brome. The specific epithet madritensis refers to Madrid, Spain. It has a diploid number of 28.

S. maritima may refer to:

<i>Sporobolus michauxianus</i> Species of grass

Sporobolus michauxianus is a species of cordgrass known as prairie cordgrass, freshwater cordgrass, tall marshgrass, and sloughgrass. It is native to much of North America, including central and eastern Canada and most of the contiguous United States except for the southwestern and southeastern regions. Its distribution extends into Mexico. It is also present on other continents as an introduced species.

<i>Sporobolus montevidensis</i> Species of grass

Sporobolus montevidensis is a species of grass known by the common name denseflower cordgrass. Although reclassified after a taxonomic revision in 2014, it may still be referred to as Spartina densiflora by some users. It is native to the coastline of southern South America, where it is a resident of salt marshes. It is also known on the west coast of the North America and parts of the Mediterranean coast as an introduced species and in some areas a noxious weed. In California it is a troublesome invasive species of marshes in San Francisco Bay and in Humboldt Bay, where it was introduced during the 19th century from Chile in ballast.

<i>Sporobolus foliosus</i> Species of grass

Sporobolus foliosus is a species of grass known by the common name California cordgrass. It was reclassified from Spartina foliosa after a taxonomic revision in 2014. It is native to the salt marshes and mudflats of coastal California and Baja California, especially San Francisco Bay. It is a perennial grass growing from short rhizomes. It produces single stems or clumps of thick, fleshy stems that grow up to 1.5 meters tall. They are green or purple-tinged. The long, narrow leaves are flat or rolled inward. The inflorescence is a narrow, dense, spike-like stick of branches appressed together, the unit reaching up to 25 centimeters long. The lower spikelets are sometimes enclosed in the basal sheaths of upper leaves.

<i>Sporobolus hookerianus</i>

Sporobolus hookerianus is a species of grass known by the common name alkali cordgrass.

<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.

<i>Sporobolus pumilus</i> Species of plant

Sporobolus pumilus, the saltmeadow cordgrass, also known as salt hay, is a species of cordgrass native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Newfoundland south along the eastern United States to the Caribbean and north-eastern Mexico. It was reclassified after a taxonomic revision in 2014, but the older name, Spartina patens, may still be found in use. It can be found in marshlands in other areas of the world as an introduced species and often a harmful noxious weed or invasive species.

<i>Sporobolus bakeri</i> Species of grass

Sporobolus bakeri is a species of grass known by the common names sand cordgrass and bunch cordgrass. It is native to the south-eastern United States, where it grows along the coast and in inland freshwater habitat in Florida.

<i>Sporobolus cynosuroides</i> Species of grass

Sporobolus cynosuroides is a species of grass known by the common names big cordgrass and salt reedgrass. It is native to the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States, where it grows in coastal habitat such as marshes, lagoons, and bays.

<i>Sporobolus spartinae</i> Species of plant

Sporobolus spartinae is a species of grass known by the common names gulf cordgrass and sacahuista. It is native to the Americas, where it occurs from the Gulf Coast of the United States south to Argentina.

<i>Sporobolus texanus</i> Species of grass

Sporobolus texanus is a species of grass known by the common name Texas dropseed. It is native to the western United States.

<i>Centaurium pulchellum</i> Species of flowering plant

Centaurium pulchellum is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name lesser centaury, or slender centaury. It differs from Centaurium erythraea by lacking basal rosette of leaves and by having a developed peduncle below the flowers. It is often much smaller, less than ten centimetres. It is native to the southern temperate parts of Europe.

<i>Iris spuria <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> maritima</i> Subspecies of flowering plant

Iris spuria subsp. maritima is a species of the genus Iris, part of a subgenus series known as Iris subg. Limniris and in the series Iris ser. Spuriae. It is a subspecies of Iris spuria, a beardless, rhizomatous perennial plant, from coastal regions Europe and north Africa with deep blue-violet flowers.

References

  1. "Sporobolus maritimus (Curtis) P.M.Peterson & Saarela". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  2. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Spartina maritima". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  3. McClintock, David; Fitter, R.S.R. (1961). The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers. London: Collins. pp. 286–287.
  4. 1 2 "Spartina swards (Spartinion maritimae)". JNCC. Retrieved 17 March 2020.