''Sporobolus anglicus'' (common cordgrass) is a species of cordgrass that originated in southern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in about 1870 and is a neonative species in Britain. It was reclassified as '' Sporobolus anglicus'' after a taxonomic revision in 2014,Peterson, PM , et al (2014) A molecular phylogeny and new subgeneric classification of Sporobolus (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Sporobolinae), Taxon 63: 1212-1243. 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 ''Sporobolus maritimus'', or synonymously as ''Spartina maritima'', the small cordgrass, 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 south ...

'' (Small Cordgrass) hybridised with the introduced American ''

Sporobolus alterniflorus ''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 ...

'' (Smooth Cordgrass). It is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

growing tall, yellowish green in spring and summer, and turning light brown in autumn and winter. The

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

are long, and broad at the base, tapering to a point. It produces

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...

s and

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

s on only one side of the stalk. The flowers are a yellowish-green, turning brown by the winter.

Invasive problems

''Sporobolus anglica'' was at first seen as a valuable new species for

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwar ...

control, its dense root systems binding coastal mud and the stems increasing silt deposition, thereby assisting in

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamat ...

from the sea. As a result, it was widely planted at coastal sites throughout the British Isles, and has colonised large areas of tidal mudflats, becoming an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

. New colonies may take some time to become established, but once they do, vegetative spread by

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow ...

s is rapid, smothering natural ecosystems and preventing birds such as waders from feeding. In some areas, however, a natural dieback of unknown cause has reversed the spread, and artificial control is no longer necessary where this dieback has occurred. It has also been introduced to Asia, Australia, New Zealand and North America, where it has proved to be a serious invasive species causing extensive damage to natural saltmarsh ecosystems in all areas.

References

External links

UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee: ''Spartina anglica''San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project
{{Taxonbar anglica

Invasive problems

Further reading

See also

References

External links