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Cordgrasses - Invasive Species Information

High Risk

What Are Cordgrasses - (Spartina) all species & hybrids?

Habitat: Terrestrial. Prefers wet areas / marsh land
Distribution in Ireland: Widely distributed

Status: Established
Family name: Poaceae

Reproduction: The species reproduce by shedding large amounts of pollen that fertilize the flowers of native species, so that the majority of the native plant's off-spring are hybrids

Native to the salt marshes and mudflats of coastal California, it is a perennial grass growing from short rhizomes. Spartina produces single stems or clumps of thick, fleshy stems which grow up to 1.5 meters tall.

Cordgrass - Spartina Stems

Green or purple-tinged long, narrow leaves are flat or rolled inward. The inflorescence is a narrow, dense, spike-like stick of branches appressed together, the unit reaching up to 25 centimeters long. The lower spikelets are sometimes enclosed in the basal sheaths of upper leaves.

Cordgrass Stems

How To Identify Cordgrasses?

Leaves: Narrow light green or purple tinged leaf, flat or rolled inwards.

Flower: tiny feathery pale yellow flowers in 30cm long spikes

Size: Can grow up to 1.5 metres

Cordgrass - Spartina
Cordgrasses - Spartina ID Guide ID Guide

Cordgrass - Spartina ID Guide

Large Cordgrass Infestation

Why Are Cordgrasses A Problem?

As these species proliferate, they trap sediment with their large root masses, raise the elevation of the intertidal areas and replace natural mud and sand flats, native eelgrass and algae beds, and river channels.

 

The plants can be distributed by birds, animals, humans, water currents, recreational boats and ships’ ballast water. The results can be serious:

  • A loss of critical rearing habitat for fish such as juvenile salmon, clams, oysters and crab.

  • A loss of valuable habitat for migrating shorebirds and waterfowl. 

  • An increase in the risk of flooding.

  • A loss of water access from shoreline areas and beaches and for

    boats. 

European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 non-native invasive plant species A-Z (Updated 2017)

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There are currently 35 invasive plant species listed in the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations (annex 2, Part 1)...

 

Click on a species from the following list to find out more regarding non-native species subject to restrictions under Regulations 49 and 50.

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  1. American Skunk-Cabbage - Lysichiton americanus

  2. Brazilian Giant-Rhubarb - Gunnera manicata

  3. Broad-Leaved Rush - Juncus planifolius

  4. Cape Pondweed - Aponogeton distachyos

  5. Cordgrasses - Spartina (all species and hybrids)

  6. Curly Waterweed - Lagarosiphon major

  7. Dwarf Eel-Grass - Zostera japonica

  8. Fanwort - Cabomba caroliniana

  9. Floating Pennywort - Hydrocotyle ranunculoides

  10. Fringed Water-Lily - Nymphoides peltata

  11. Giant Hogweed - Heracleum mantegazzianum

  12. Giant Knotweed - Fallopia sachalinensis

  13. Giant-Rhubarb - Gunnera tinctoria

  14. Giant Salvinia - Salvinia molesta

  15. Himalayan Balsam - Impatiens glandulifera

  16. Himalayan Knotweed - Persicaria wallichii

  17. Hottentot-Fig - Carpobrotus edulis

  18. Japanese Knotweed - Fallopia japonica

  19. Large-Flowered Waterweed - Egeria densa

  20. Mile-a-Minute Weed - Persicaria perfoliata

  21. New Zealand Pigmyweed - Crassula helmsii

  22. Parrots Feather - Myriophyllum aquaticum

  23. Red Alga - Grateloupia doryphora

  24. Rhododendron - Rhododendron ponticum

  25. Salmonberry - Rubus spectabilis

  26. Sea-Buckthorn - Hippophae rhamnoides

  27. Spanish Bluebell - Hyacinthoides hispanica

  28. Three-Cornered Leek - Allium triquetrum

  29. Wakame - Undaria pinnatifida

  30. Water Chestnut - Trapa natans

  31. Water Fern - Azolla filiculoides

  32. Water Lettuce - Pistia stratiotes

  33. Water-Primrose - Ludwigia (all species)

  34. Waterweeds - Elodea (all species)

  35. Wireweed - Sargassum muticum

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