Columbia Basin    Human History projects    Natural History Projects Thompson-Okanagan Upper Fraser Basin Peace River Northen Rockies Northwest

GRASSES OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Heather Stewart, Richard Hebda Major Groups of Grasses Table of Contents Glossary Distichlis Saltgrass The leaves of the species in this genus form two ranks or rows -- and the Greek name for two-ranked is distichos -- hence the name. These grasses of the Americas are wiry and well adapted to saline and alkaline soils. Distichilis spicata (L.) Greene var. stricta (Torr.) Beetle Alkali Saltgrass Plant: Distichilis spicata is a native species that grows to 10-40 cm tall. It is a wiry, spreading and sod-forming perennial with a solid stem and scaly rhizomes, more or less erect leaves arranged in two distinct rows, and a spiky looking flowerhead. Leaves and Stem: Sheaths are open and there are long hairs on the collars and sheath edges. Leaves are narrow, 2-4 mm long and stand erect in two rows. There are no auricles. The ligules are 0.5 cm long and fringed with long hairs. The species is easy to recognize even in the winter because the leaves, though dry, remain attached. Flowerhead and Flowers: The flowerhead is a small, compact spike, carried only slightly above the many stemmed leaves. Large, flattened and overlapping spikelets contain about five flowers. The two glumes are of different sizes, with the longest shorter than the first lemma. Lemmas are hardened but have no awns. Male and female flowers are on separate plants. Habitat: Alkali Saltgrass grows along sandy lake shores and moist alkaline sites. In the Columbia Basin region, this species grows at Doyle, Marysville, Findlay Creek,Windermere Lake and Columbia Lake. Similar Species: There are two varieties of Alkali Saltgrass in British Columbia, and the habitat is important in determining which variety you are looking at. If you are in the Columbia Basin region it is var. stricta, if you are along the coast at a tidal shore you have var. spicata.

	Copyright © Royal BC Museum All rights reserved