Spartina
-
Authority
Britton, Nathaniel L. & Millspaugh, Charles F. 1920. The Bahama Flora.
-
Family
Poaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Description
Genus Description - Perennial glabrous grasses, with long horizontal rootstocks, flat or involute leaves, and an inflorescence of one-sided spreading or erect alternate spikes. Spikelets 1-flowered, narrow, deciduous, borne in two rows on the rachis, articulated with the very short pedicels below the scales. Scales 3; the two outer empty, keeled, very unequal; the third subtending a perfect flower, keeled, equalling or shorter than the second; palet often longer than its scale, 2-nerved. Stamens 3. Styles filiform, elongated. Stigmas filiform, papillose or shortly plumose. Grain free. [Greek, referring to the cord-like leaves of some species.] About 7 species, widely distributed in saline soil, a few in fresh-water marshes. Type species: Spartina Schreberi Gmel.