''Distichlis spicata'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

known by several common names, including seashore saltgrass, inland saltgrass, and desert saltgrass. This grass is native to the Americas, where it is widespread. It can be found on other continents as well, where it is

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

. It is extremely salt tolerant.Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd ed. 2013, p 284

Distribution and habitat

''Distichlis spicata'' thrives along coastlines and on

salt flats Salt flats, Salt flat, Salt Flats, or Salt Flat may refer to: Geology * Salt pan (geology), a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals * Dry lake, an ephemeral lakebed that consists of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali sa ...

and disturbed soils, as well as forest, woodland,

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

, and desert scrub habitats. It can form dense monotypic stands, and it often grows in clonal colonies. Non-clonal populations tend to be skewed toward a majority of one sex or the other. The grass forms sod with its hearty root system. Its rhizomes have sharp points which allow it to penetrate hard soils and aerenchymous tissues, which allow it to grow underwater and in mud. This plant grows easily in salty and alkaline soils, excreting salts from its tissues via salt glands.

Description

''Distichlis spicata'' is a hardy

perennial 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 ...

with rhizomes and sometimes

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external ...

s. It is an erect grass which occasionally approaches half a meter in height but is generally shorter. The solid, stiff stems have narrow leaves up to 10 centimeters in length, which may be crusted with salt in saline environments. This species is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

, meaning the male flowers and female flowers grow on separate individuals. The

pistillate Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pistils' ...

inflorescence 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 ...

may be up to 8 centimeters long, with green or purple-tinted spikelets. The

staminate The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

flowers look quite similar, thinner but larger overall and denser. The flower parts of both sex may be bright pinkish-purple.

Uses

Because it gets rid of excess salts by secreting it onto its surfaces, the Kawaiisu Indians were able to make salt blocks by scraping off the salt. "Under favorable soil and moisture conditions, studies have shown Saltgrass favorable for pastures irrigated with saline water. The total dry matter yields were 9081 kg/ha with a total protein production of 1300 kg/ha. Saltgrass is grazed by both cattle and horses and it has a forage value of fair to good because it remains green when most other grasses are dry during the drought periods and it is resistant to grazing and trampling. It is cropped both when green and in the dry state; however, it is most commonly used the winter for livestock feed. Saltgrass along the Atlantic coast was the primary source of hay for the early colonists."(USDA Plants Database, Plant Profile)

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileGrass Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3013802 Chloridoideae Halophytes Salt marsh plants Grasses of North America Grasses of South America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus