Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

PRAIRIE CORDGRASS

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Spartina pectinata Bosc ex Link

Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 3-7 feet

Family: Poaceae Grass Family

Flowering Period: August, September,October

Also Called:

Sloughgrass.

Culms:

Erect, solitary or clustered, stout, coarse, hollow, glabrous.

Blades:

Flat or rolled inward, 12 to 48 inches long, 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, prominently ridged above, glabrous; margins rough toothed; tips tapered to slender points.

Sheaths:

Crowded below, overlapping, firm, glabrous to slightly ribbed.

Ligules:

Short fringes of hairs.

Inflorescences:

8 to 18 inches long, consisting of 5-32 spikes; spikes often short-stalked, 1.5 to 5 inches long, ascending to erect.

Spikelets:

Sessile, to 40, crowded, overlapping in 2 rows along 1 side of each spike, flattened laterally, 1-flowered; first glume pointed or short-awned; second glume with awn to 1/4 inch long.

Habitat:

Moist low ground, ditches, marshy areas, and along streams.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Forage Value:

Of poor forage value when mature but can be grazed by livestock during its early growth stage and produces moderate-quality hay when harvested before the stems develop.

Uses:

Prairie cordgrass is fast-growing and has been used to prevent soil erosion. Stems often remain erect through the winter and provide good cover for wildlife. Red-winged blackbirds nest in it. Native Americans and early pioneers used prairie cordgrass as a roof covering for dwellings.

Comments:

Rhizomatous. The grass is sometimes called "ripgut" due to the pointed teeth along the blade margins, which can cut skin.

Prairie cordgrass anthers