Smooth Cordgrass
Spartina alterniflora
Smooth cordgrass is the foundational grass of Atlantic and Gulf salt marshes, building and binding tidal mud between the tides. Essential for coastal marsh restoration.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Type
- grass
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 2–6 ft
- Spacing
- 2–4 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- wet
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- July, August, September
- Bloom colors
- green, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host, mammals
- Landscape uses
- specimen, rain garden, erosion control, naturalizing
- Native states
- AK, CT, DE, FL, GA, LA, MA, MD, ME, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, RI, SC, TX, VA