Georgia Arnold

November 15th, 2015

Science/English

Spartina Grass

Spartina grass, or Spartina alternflora is a smooth, green yellow cordlike grass.Spartina grass is usually 15-35 inches but can exceed that height. They tend to live in estuaries usually in the South Carolina area. They are in the eukaryote domain, plantae kingdom, spermataphyta phylum, liliopsida class, cyperales order, poaceae family, Spartina genus, and alternflora species. They are asymmetrical which means they have no symmetry whatsoever. A structural adaptation is that they grow very quickly which is helpful because if one dies, a new one will grow back immediately. A fun fact is that another name for spartina grass is cordgrass because of its think structure. Their only predators are us, and the tide. Erosion is a big problem and that is how spartina grass dies. They are autotrophic organisms which means they use the sun to create energy. They are ectothermic which means it is cold blooded which is why they do not grow well in cold states like New York.

I got my information off of http://www.edc.uri.edu/restoration/html/gallery/plants/smooth.htm as well as http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SPAL I also got my information off of http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/spaalt/all.html and lastly http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/smooth_cordgrass