Quote:
Originally Posted by Reggoh
It was starting to frustrate me so I decided to look up these plants. The only one I could find is the Jamiacan Sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense)... the other two I can't even find a reference to them online.
Spill the beans... what's the importance? Or is it only important that the average joe person doesn't know the difference so we aren't qualified to have an opinion?
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Sorry, I was using the names that most people are familiar with. The accepted name of oystergrass is Smooth cordgrass (
Spartina alterniflora), and the accepted name of wiregrass is marshhay cordgrass (
Spartina patens).
The
Spartinas are more salt hardy species. The difference is,
S. alterniflora can tolerate more water than
S. patens can. The two forms dominant different parts of the marsh.
Patens typically dominates high marsh,
Alterniflora dominates the lower marsh. In an natural setting,
Patens will be limited in where it grows by water, while it will limit where
Alterniflora can grow.