Spartina Grass Penny Wallace

Science/English

Penny Wallace          

November 15, 2015

Spartina grass

Spartina grass or Spartina alterniflora lives in estuaries and marshes. Their region is all around South Carolina and the Southeastern coast of the United States. The domain of this organism is eukaryote and the kingdom is plantae. The phylum is spermatophyta and the class is liliopsida. The order is cyperales and the family is poaceae. The genus and species is Spartina alterniflora. This organism is asymmetrical, meaning that spartina grass have no symmetry. The length of this organism can be from twelve to twenty inches. The cord like grass is smooth and has blade like leaves, that taper to a point. tiny, white flowers bloom in July to September. The color of spartina grass can be from green to yellow. An adaptation to this organism is how it is found in large groups for protection. That adaptation is structural. Another adaptation is how this organism grows very fast. It can grow fast to help spread, so the organism won't become endangered. That adaptation is behavioral. The final adaptation is that this organism is able to tolerate daily exposure to seawater. That adaptation helps because having exposure to water is what makes it live longer. That adaptation is structural and functional. An interesting fact is spartina grass has another common name called “cordgrass” because it looks like a cord. Another interesting fact is that it is an important habitat to the snail, periwinkle. This organism has no prey, due to the fact that it is an autotroph and produces its own food. Predators to this organism are humans (due to habitat loss) and grasshoppers. Spartina grass is neither ectothirmic nor endothirmic because it is a plant.

(works cited) I got my information from: 

"Spartina Grass"

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/smooth_cordgrass,

http://www.edc.uri.edu/restoration/html/gallery/plants/smooth.htm, 

and

http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SPAL

14 Nov. 2015