.gif)
Grama Salada (Distichlis spicata)
Encyclopedia
Distichlis spicata is a species of grass
known by several common names, including seashore saltgrass, inland saltgrass, and desert saltgrass. This grass is native to the Americas
, where it is widespread. It can be found on other continents as well, where it is naturalized
.
, and desert
scrub habitats. It can form dense monotypic stands, and it often grows in clonal colonies
. Non-clonal populations tend to be skewed toward a majority of one sex or the other. The grass forms sod
with its hearty root system. Its rhizomes have sharp points which allow it to penetrate hard soils and aerenchymous
tissues, which allow it to grow underwater and in mud.
This plant grows easily in salty and alkaline soils, excreting salts from its tissues via salt glands.
s and sometimes stolon
s. It is an erect grass which occasionally approaches half a meter in height but is generally shorter. The solid, stiff stems have narrow leaves up to 10 centimeters in length, which may be crusted with salt in saline environments.
This species is dioecious
, meaning the male flowers and female flowers grow on separate individuals. The pistillate
inflorescence
may be up to 8 centimeters long, with green or purple-tinted spikelets
. The staminate
flowers look quite similar, thinner but larger overall and denser. The flower parts of both sexes may be bright pinkish-purple.
Poaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
known by several common names, including seashore saltgrass, inland saltgrass, and desert saltgrass. This grass is native to the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, where it is widespread. It can be found on other continents as well, where it is naturalized
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
.
Distribution and habitat
Distichlis spicata thrives along coastlines and on salt flats and disturbed soils, as well as forest, woodland, montaneMontane
In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...
, and desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
scrub habitats. It can form dense monotypic stands, and it often grows in clonal colonies
Clonal colony
A clonal colony or genet is a group of genetically identical individuals that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively from a single ancestor. In plants, an individual in such a population is referred to as a ramet...
. Non-clonal populations tend to be skewed toward a majority of one sex or the other. The grass forms sod
Sod
Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...
with its hearty root system. Its rhizomes have sharp points which allow it to penetrate hard soils and aerenchymous
Aerenchyma
Aerenchyma is an air channel in the roots of some plants, which allows exchange of gases between the shoot and the root. The channel of large air-filled cavities provides a low-resistance internal pathway for the exchange of gases such as oxygen and ethylene between the plant above the water and...
tissues, which allow it to grow underwater and in mud.
This plant grows easily in salty and alkaline soils, excreting salts from its tissues via salt glands.
Description
Distichlis spicata is a hardy perennial with rhizomeRhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s and sometimes stolon
Stolon
In biology, stolons are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external skeletons.-In botany:...
s. It is an erect grass which occasionally approaches half a meter in height but is generally shorter. The solid, stiff stems have narrow leaves up to 10 centimeters in length, which may be crusted with salt in saline environments.
This species is dioecious
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
, meaning the male flowers and female flowers grow on separate individuals. The pistillate
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
may be up to 8 centimeters long, with green or purple-tinted spikelets
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
. The staminate
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
flowers look quite similar, thinner but larger overall and denser. The flower parts of both sexes may be bright pinkish-purple.