''Iva frutescens'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

known by the common names Jesuit's bark,''Iva frutescens''.
United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile. bigleaf marsh-elder,''Iva frutescens''.
NatureServe. and high-tide bush.''Iva frutescens''.
United States Department of Agriculture NRCS Plant Fact Sheet. It grows in coastal eastern North America from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

down the eastern coast and along the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

.Thursby, G. B. and M. A. Abdelrhman. (2004)
Growth of the marsh elder ''Iva frutescens'' in relation to duration of tidal flooding.
''Estuaries'' 27(2) 217-24. ''Iva frutescens'' is a subshrub or

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

with erect stems up to 3.5 meters (almost 12 feet) tall. The leaves are lance-shaped or somewhat oval and have toothed edges. They are variable in size, measuring from 3 to 12 centimeters (1.2-5.0 inches) or more in length. The adaxial (upper) side of the leaf is often covered is small warts, helping to distinguish it from sympatric shrubs. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is an elongated array of many small

flower heads A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, composite flowers ...

with whitish florets.''Iva frutescens''.
Flora of North America, ''Iva frutescens'' Linnaeus, 1753. ''Iva frutescens'' is very common in

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

habitat throughout its native range. While it is tolerant of

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

, it is not very tolerant of flooding, so it tends to grow in a narrow band along the upper margins of marshes. The band may be just a few meters wide, and individuals nearest the water may be stunted. The largest individuals have their roots in water less than 7% of the time, and the longer the roots are submerged, the smaller the plants are. However, this slight tolerance of flooding allows the plant to compete with other species on the marsh margins. This competition on one side and flooding on the other keeps the plant restricted to a narrow band. This species' position is in the malophe front line of waterway

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

. It sometimes grows on substrate that has been

dredged Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing dams ...

and laid out along the edges of waterways. This species provides habitat for salt marsh animals such as the

marsh wren The marsh wren (''Cistothorus palustris'') is a small North American songbird of the wren Family (biology), family. It was formerly called the long-billed marsh wren to distinguish it from the sedge wren, then known as the short-billed marsh wren ...

References

External links

Photo of herbarium at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Louisiana in 2008Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of TexasGo Botany, New England Wildflower SocietyDelaware Wildflowers
{{Taxonbar, from=Q13922834 frutescens Flora of Northern America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus