Spartina gracilis Trin.
Alkali Cordgrass


Habit: 		Tall perennials, with creeping scaly rhizomes.
Culms: 		30-100 cm. tall, glabrous.
Blades: 	15-20 cm. long, 2-6 (mostly less than 5) mm. wide, flat, becoming involute, very
		scabrous above.
Sheaths: 	Overlapping, those at the base short and crowded.
Ligule: 	Ciliate membrane.
Inflorescence: 	Spikes 4-8, closely appressed, usually short-stalked, 2-5-5 cm. long.
Spikelets: 	6-8 mm. long, 1-flowered, flattened laterally, sessile, crowded and
		imbricate in two rows, in one-sided spikes, the rachis extending beyond the
		spikelets, disarticulating below the glumes, rachilla not produced beyond the floret.
Glumes: 	First glume half as long as the second and the lemma, firm-membranous, narrow,
		ciliate on the keel, acute or bristle-pointed.
Lemmas: 	Nearly as long and broader than the second glume, ciliate on keel.
Palea: 		Thin and almost hyaline, obscurely 2-nerved, often exceeding the lemma, obtuse.
Habitat: 	Alkaline meadows and plains.  August-September.
Kansas Range:	Hamilton and Cloud counties.