Taxon: Spartina patens (Aiton) Muhl.

Summary

Genus:

Spartina

Family:

Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)

Subfamily:

Chloridoideae

Tribe:

Zoysieae

Subtribe:

Sporobolinae

Nomen number:

70745

Place of publication:

Cat. pl. Amer. sept. 8. 1813

Comment:

Muhlenberg's citation of "patens, Hort. Kew" can be interpreted as an indirect reference to the basionym Dactylis patens Aiton, Hortus kewensis 1:104. 1789 (Shenzhen ICN Art. 38.13 & 38.14)

Verified:

04/24/2017 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

85 (23 active, 10 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Basionym
Dactylis patens Aiton

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Alderson, J. & W. C. Sharp. 1995. Grass varieties in the United States, U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 170, rev. ed. CRC Press. Note: Revised version of AH 170
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
Davidse, G. et al., eds. 1994. Flora mesoamericana. Note: mentions
Englert, J. M. et al. 1999-. USDA-NRCS Improved conservation plant materials released by NRCS and cooperators
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Gould, F. W. 1975. The grasses of Texas
Hitchcock, A. S. 1936. Manual of the grasses of the West Indies.
Hitchcock, A. S. 1971. Manual of the grasses of the United States, ed. 2. 2:959.
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Mejía-Saulés, M. T. & P. Dávila A. 1992. Gramíneas Útiles de México. Cuad. Inst. Biol. 16 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Distrito Federal, Mexico.
Proctor, G. R. 1984. Flora of the Cayman Islands. Kew Bulletin Additional Series XI.
Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
Randall, R. P. 2002. A global compendium of weeds
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Scoggan, H. J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada, 4 vol.
1961. Webster's third new international dictionary.

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	marsh grass	1	1961. Webster's third new international dictionary.
English	marshhay cordgrass	1	Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
English	salt-meadow cordgrass	1	Hitchcock, A. S. 1971. Manual of the grasses of the United States, ed. 2. 2:959.
Spanish	esparto	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	New Brunswick		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Newfoundland and Labrador		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Nova Scotia		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Prince Edward Island		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Québec	s.e.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Connecticut	http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Maine	http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Massachusetts	http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Michigan		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New Hampshire	http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New Jersey		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New York		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Rhode Island	http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Tamaulipas
1	Native	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	Texas		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Alabama	s.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Delaware		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Florida	http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/main.asp?plantID=3723	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Georgia	s.e.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Louisiana	s.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Maryland	e.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Mississippi	s.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	North Carolina	e.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	South Carolina		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Virginia	e.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua		Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Bahamas			Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Bermuda
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cayman Islands			Proctor, G. R. 1984. Flora of the Cayman Islands. Kew Bulletin Additional Series XI.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba			León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominican Republic
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Guadeloupe			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Haiti
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Jamaica			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Virgin Islands, U.S.		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Virgin Islands, U.S.		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Oregon	w.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Washington	w.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	California	w.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Western Canada	Canada	British Columbia	s.w.	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Central America	Central America		sterile material in n.e. Mesoamerica may belong to this species	Davidse, G. et al., eds. 1994. Flora mesoamericana. Note: mentions

Native
Northern America

EASTERN CANADA: Canada [Québec (s.e.), Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador]
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Connecticut (http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html), Maine (http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html), Massachusetts (http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html), Michigan, New Hampshire (http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html), New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island (http://neatlas.huh.harvard.edu/Neatlas1/Poac-S-Z.html)]
SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Alabama (s.), Delaware, Florida (http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/main.asp?plantID=3723), Georgia (s.e.), Louisiana (s.), Maryland (e.), Mississippi (s.), North Carolina (e.), South Carolina, Virginia (e.)]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Texas]
NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Tamaulipas]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Antigua and Barbuda [Antigua], Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, United States [Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, U.S., Virgin Islands, U.S.]

Naturalized
Northern America

WESTERN CANADA: Canada [British Columbia (s.w.)]
NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Oregon (w.), Washington (w.)]
SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [California (w.)]

Southern America

CENTRAL AMERICA: Central America (sterile material in n.e. Mesoamerica may belong to this species)

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
Davidse, G. et al., eds. 1994. Flora mesoamericana. Note: mentions
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Proctor, G. R. 1984. Flora of the Cayman Islands. Kew Bulletin Additional Series XI.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Animal food	forage		Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Environmental	erosion control		Hitchcock, A. S. 1971. Manual of the grasses of the United States, ed. 2. 2:959.
Environmental	erosion control	for coastal marshes	Alderson, J. & W. C. Sharp. 1995. Grass varieties in the United States, U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 170, rev. ed. CRC Press. Note: Revised version of AH 170
Environmental	revegetator		Hitchcock, A. S. 1971. Manual of the grasses of the United States, ed. 2. 2:959.
Weed			Randall, R. P. 2002. A global compendium of weeds

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=70745. Accessed 17 April 2026.