Coastal wetland indicator plants of Maine

[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]

us Of Commerce
NOAACo Services Center Libzw
2234 South Hobson Avenue 7
SC 2%05-2413

COASTAL WETLAND INDICATOR PLANTS

OF MAINE

UNDER CONTRACT WITH THE
STATE OF MAINE
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AUGUSTA, MAINE

PETER S. GAGNON
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY AND PLANT PATHOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT ORONO
ORONO, MAINE 04469

QK February 29, 1980
164
G34
'9,0

gratefully acknowledge the advice, assis tance, and individual

,expertise of many people in compiling this work. I especially thank

Dr. Robert Vadas for his enthusiasm, support, provision of facilities,

and help in initiating the project. To him and Dr. Charles D. Richards

I am grateful also' for suggestions regarding the content, format, and

execution of the work. Tim Bourett's expert assistance and keen botanical

eye were of inestimable value in preparing mounts. Thanks are due C. P.

Wight for his help in locating and collecting a number of species from

Z-_ .,..
the s,,.,, @f the state. Thanks to my wife, Barbara,

preparing specimens and preparing lists.
for hqfr help collect

Finally, thanks to Donna Merchant for her patient and professional

assistance in preparing herbarium labels and all stages of the manuscript.

The preparation of this manual and voucher collection was assisted

financially by a Federal Grant froin the National Oceanographic and Atmos-

pheric Administration, administered by the Office of Coastal Zone Manage-

ment Act of 1972, Appropriations Account Number 3530-3080-4099.

US Department of Commerce
NOAA Coastal Services Center Library
22'EXI. f2ou th Hobson Avenue
Chazleston, SC 29405-2413

FORWORD

For the purpose of this work, coastal wetland habitats,are defined

as all intertidal and subtidal lands including all areas below any identi-

fiable debris line left by tidal action, and coastal dune systems. This

work is not, nor is it intended to be, a comprehensive review of the

coastal wetlands flora of Maine. It is limited in scope to those plants

which are restricted to, and are therefore indicators of, coastal wetland

habitats. Many plants which are generally considered typical or character-

istic of thse habitats have been excluded because they also occur in non-

coastal habitats with sufficient frequency to render them unacceptable as

indicator species.

Three species not included in the actual collections are provided

with complete descriptions and included in the overall list for the fol-

lowing reasons. Eriocaulon parkeri has not been definitely observed for

decades and is not known to survive in the state. Moreover, controversy

persists whether it is a distinct species or merely a variant form of

the Iresh-water Eriocaulon septangulare. However, some authorities

consider it sufficiently characteristic to include it here as a coastal

wetland indicator.

Neither collection nor citeable record of any collection of Euphorbia

polygonifolia could be found for the State of Maine. However, it occurs

south of Maine and in Nova Scotia and has been claimed to occur in Maine.

Verifiable collections of the plant may be made within the state at some

future date. In the meantime, it seems prudent to include it in this

treatment.

The situation is analogous for Iva frutescens. I searched three

locations at which the plant had been recently reported to me to occur

in an attempt to verify its presence. These sites, in addition to many

others I examined, were indeed appropriate habitats, but Iva was universally

absent. Nevertheless, some probability of its occurrence dictat es that it

be included in this work.

The families treated here are presented in order according to their

classification in Gray's Manual of Botany 8th Edition by M. L. Fernald,

which is also used as the nomenclatural authority. Genera are presented

alphabetically within each family, and species alphabetically within

genera. Complete scientific names, including varietal designations and

specific naming authorities for each indicator are found solely in the

List of Species by Family. Only the genus and species are used in the

remainder of the text.

For convenience and ease of access, the entire contents are indexed

alphabetically, by both scientific and common name. Descriptions are

strongly oriented for use by untrained observers although, by necessity,

a handful of technical terms are retained. Illustrations are presented

for most species and an illustrated glossary aids in defining key diagnostic

features. Habitat, growth habit, and ecogeographic notes are tabulated for

each species. Following this introductory information is a more detailed

description, in a categorized series of diagnostic character descriptions

which are cross-referenced to a complete reference series of exemplary

specimens available on file at the regional offices of the Maine State

Department of Environmental Protection in Augusta, Bangor and Portland,

Maine.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ............ .................................... i

Forward .......................................................... ii

Introduction ....................................... o ............ 01

List of Species by Family ...................................... o.5

Habitat Distribution of Maine Coastal Wetland Indicators ......... 8

Key to Character Cross Referencing of Mounted Specimens .... 10

Field Key to Grass-like Coastal Wetland Indicator Species ........ 17

Description of Species:

Acnida cannabina ............................. o....... 42, (65)

Ammophila breviligulata ....................... o ...... 19, (66)

Arenaria peploides... ............................. o ........ 43

Artemisia stelleriana ................... o ............. 58, (74)

Aster novi-belgii ...... o ....... o ..................... 59, (74)

Atriplex glabriuscula ....... .................. 34, (69)

Atriplex patula ...................................... 35, (69)

Caki16 edentula ...................................... 44, (71)

Carex mackenziei ..... o ............................... 26, (68)

Carex paleacea ........ o...................... o....... 272 (68)

Carex silicea ............................................... 28

Distichlis spicata ................................... 19, (66.)

Eleocharis halophila ................................. 29, (68)

Elymus arenarius ..................................... 20, (67)

Eriocaulon parkeri .............. o .................... 32, (65)

Euphorbia polygonifolia .............................. 47, (71)

Gerardia maritima.... o ............................... 55, (73)

Glaux maritima ................ o......... oo..519 (72)

Hudsonia tomentosa ............ 0............ ......... 489 (72)

Iva frutescens. ........... ........... 609 (74)

Juncus gerardii ...................................... 33, (65)

Lathyrus japonicus ................................... 48, (71)

Lechea maritima ...................................... 49, (72)

Ligusticum scothicum ................................. 50, (72)

Limonium nashii ...................................... 53, (73)

Lophotocarpus spongiosus .............................. 14, (65)

Hertensia maritima ................................... 54, (73)

Plantago juncoides ................................... 56, (73)

Potentilla anserina .................................. 463 (71)

Puccinellia maritima ....................................... 21

Puccinellia,paupercula ..................................... 22

Rosa rugosa .......................................... 46.1 (71)

Ruppia maritima ...................................... 129 (64)

Salicornia bigelovii ................................. 36, (69)

Salicornia europae .................................. 379 (69)

Salsola kali ......................................... 37, (70)

Samolus parviflorus .................................. 52, (72)

Scirpus maritimus .................................... 30, (68)

Scirpus paludosus .................................... 319 (68)

Solidago sempervirens ................................ 61, (74)

Spartina alterniflora ................................ 23s (67)

Spartina patens ...................................... 24, (67)

Spergularia marina ................................... 44, (65)

Sueda americana ................. o .................... 38, (70)

Sueda linearis ....................................... 399 (70)

Sueda maritima. ....................................... 40, (70)

Sueda richii ....... .................................. 41, (70)

Triglochin maritima .................................. 14, (65)

Xanthium echinatum ............ o ...................... 62, (74)

Zostera marina ....... o.... o...... o..... o....... o ..... 12, (64)

Glossary of Terms .... o.................... - .......... o........ 75

Index to Common Names... ..... oo ........ o.............. o......... 82

Sources of Illustrations .............................. o......... 85

INTRODUCTION

Coastal wetlands include areas ranging from the open coast to the

inland limits of tidal action in major estuaries. Consequently, they

experience wide variation in a number of environmental factors including

wind and wave exposure, tidal amplitude, salinity and substrate. The

interaction of these factors forges a more or less continuous range of

ecological circumstances in a variety of habitats.

Some of these habitats are reasonably well defined, such as dunes,

beaches, salt marshes, and saline tidal flats. Others represent sub-habitats

such as the shallow saline or brackish pools (salt-pannes) that occur in

salt marshes; transitional habitats suchas sea strands which are inter-

mediate between beaches and salt marshes; and unique extremes of more

typical coastal habitats, notably brackish tidal marshes and flats.

Despite this diversity of habitats, coastal wetlands are strongly

interrelated by a number of basic ecological similarities. Coastal

wetland habitats in Maine, although naturally stable over long periods

of time, are by no means static environments. They are dynamic, constantly

changing communities. Winter weather conditions are a major cause for

this, both directly and indirectly.

In dune systems winter storms exert tremendous destructive effects

via erosive winds and excessive wave action. These influences are relatively

minor in salt marshes, however, ice damage is frequently extensive. As ice

freezes during the winter high tides in Maine salt marshes, it binds to

persisting dead vegetation from the previous growing season sometimes even

deeply as the rhizome mat. When tidal action floats this ice free, it often

rips out large areas of the rhizome mat, leaving areas stripped completely

of all vegetation. These chunks remain affixed to the ice until spring

thaw when they are deposited randomly in the general locality of their

or igin. A brief examination of nearly any Maine salt marsh in the early

spring will reveal some of these chunks scattered over the marsh and

usually the adjacent tidal flats as well. These chunks are disruptive

themselves, as they smother any vegetation inhabiting the site on which

they eventually come rest.

Other coastal wetlands suffer varying combinations of the effects

discussed for dunes and salt marshes. Like the death of an old tree in

terrestrial forest communities, these destructive environmental influences

in coastal habitats set the stage for new colonization and thereby help

to maintain continuing diversity of the flora in coastal ecosystems.

In salt marshes, sea-strands, and beaches, members of the Goosefoot

family (glassworts, sea-blites, Salsola and orachs) are very important

as early colonizers of disturbed and unvegetated areas. As they germinate

and send down their shallow roots they begin the important process of

stabilizing the substrate. On beaches and sea-strands, the process rarely

progresses much farther than this due to the high, weather induced, seasonal

environmental instability. In salt marshes, as these plants grow they help

to trap floating debris which breaks down and contributes nutrients to the

substrate. At the end of the growing season as these abundant annual plants

die back, they themselves contribute to the organic matter in the soil.

Following the early stages of substrate stabilization initiated by

the early colonizers, a variety of grasses, sedges and rushes become

established. It is at this point that areas first become characterizable

salt marshes. Most of these plants possess extensive rhizome systems

which become tightly interwoven into a tough stabilizing mat.

The rhizome mat provides matrix in which more shallowly rooted or

less tenacious plants can secure a hold and become established, pumps other-

wise inaccessable nutrients from deeper sediments to where they can be

utilized by other species, retard moisture loss, and traps dead plant

and animal material thereby facilitating the addition of organic material

to sterile substrates. In a real sense, these plants define salt-marsh

and dune ecosystems; without their tightly woven rhizome mats it is doubt-

ful that many of the plants generally considered typical of these communities

would be able to become established or persist.

Once coastal ecosystems have attained this level of stability a third

type of plants typically becomes established: those with deep, woody, often

carrot-like roots. These plants, including Arrow grass, seaside plantain,

seaside goldenrod and a number of others, are found abundantly for the most

part in ecologically mature communities. They are not commonly found in

areas that have been recently disturbed or recolonized.

Dunes depart from this general model in that they "skip." the initial

colonization stage by members of the Goosefoot family. Most members of

the Goosefoot family are very succulent and require continual high levels

of moisture. Despite their proximity to limitless quantities of water,

the surface layers of dunes are extremely dry (not to mention hot)--

insufficient for most "typical early colonizers". Initial colonization on

dunes is usually accomplished by very deep-rooted Beach grass, which in

combination with a species of sedge, assumes an ecological role comparable

to that of grasses, sedges, and rushes in marsh habitats.

Tidal flats represent a situation in contrast to all other wetland

habitats. Mudflats are very homogeneous in regard to both substrate

and the environmental conditions which they experience. However, their

constantly repeated submersion and emersion as a result of tidal action

renders them stressful environments which-require special adaptations for

survival. As a result of this homogeneity and severity, it is not sur-

prising that tidal flats are inhabited by so few, but absolutely charac-

teristic species,

Indicator species rarely occur individually. They occur in usually

characteristic assemblages and this is the perspective in which they should

be considered. Each general habitat type possesses one or more unique in-

dicators. However, many indicators species occur in several habitat types.

Thus, the distinction between specific habitat types is not always clear

cut, and imposition of a particular habitat classification on a given area

is generally inadvisable. Further partitioning of a habitat type into

arbitrary artificial subdivisions (such as upper marsh, transition marsh,

and lower marsh within salt marshes) is not only essentially useless but

also of marginal validity. Alternatively, it is an excellent practice to

make as detailed observations as possible regarding the environmental conditions

in which a particular species is growing. The combination of a carefully

identified assemblage of indicator species with good ecological observations

should leave no doubt as to the classification of a given site as a coastal

wetland.

LIST OF SPECIES BY FAMILY

Zosteraceae

Ruppia maritima L.

Zostera marina L. var. stenophyll2, Aschers. & Graebn.

Juncaginaceae

Triglochin maritima L.

Alismaceae

Lophotocarpus spongiosus (Engelm.) J. G. Sm.

Poaceae

Ammophila breviligulata Fern.

Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene

Elymus arenarius L. var. villosus Mey.

Puccinellia maritima (Huds.) Parl.

Puccinellia paupercula (Holm.) Fern. & Weath. var. alaskana (Scribn. & Merr.)

Fern. & Weath.

Spartina alterniflora Loisel

Spartina patens (Ait.) Muhl.

Cyperaceae

Carex mackenziei Krecz.

Carex paleacea Wahlenb.

Carex silicea Olney.

Eleocharis halophila Fern. & Brack.

Scirpus maritimus L. var. Fernaldi (Bickn.) Beetle

Scirpus paludosus Nels. var. atlanticus Fern.

Eriocaulaceae

Eriocaulon parkeri Robins.

List of Species by Family Cont.

Juncaceae

Juncus gerardi Loisel.

Chenopodiaceae

Atriplex glabriuscula Edmondston

Atriplex patula L. var. littoralis (L.) Gray

Salicornia bigelovii Torr.

Salicornia europaea L.

Salsola kali L.

Sueda americana (Pers.) Fern.

Sueda linearis (Ell.) Moq.

Sueda maritima (L.) Dumort.

Sueda richii Fern.

Am aranthaceae

Acnida cannabina L.

Caryophyllaceae

Arenaria peploides L. var. robusta Fern.

Spergularia marina (L.) Griseb.

Brassicaceae

Cakile edentula (Bigel.) Hook

Rosaceae

Potentilla anserina L.

Rosa rugosa Thunb.

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia polygonifolia L.

Fabaceae

Lathyrus japonicus Willd.

List of Species by Family Cont.

Cistaceae

Hudsonia tomentosa Nutt.

Lechea maritima Leggett

Apiaceae

Ligusticum Scothium L.

Primulaceae

Glaux maritima L.

Samolus parviflorus Raf.

Plumbaginaceae

Limonium nashii Small

Boraginaceae

Mertensia maritima (L.) S. F. Gray

Scrophulariaceae

Gerardia maritima Raf.

Plantaginaceae

Plantago juncoides Lam.

Asteraceae

Artemisia stelleriana Bess.

Aster novi-belgii L. var. litoreus Gray

Iva frutescens L. var. oraria (Bartlett) Fern. & Grisc.

Solidago sempervirens L.

Xanthium echinatum Murr.

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ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SPECIES En CQ

Acnida cannabina x x

Ammophila breviligulata x

Arenaria peploides x x

Artemesia stellariana x

Atriplex glabriuscula x x

Atriplex patula x x x

Aster novi-belgii x x

Cakile edentula x x

Carex mackenziei x

paleacea x
O,-r".Xx silicea x

Distichlis spicata x

Eleocharis halophila x

Elymus arenarius x x x

Eriocaulon parkeri x

Euphorbia polygonifolia x x

Gerardia maritima x

Glaux maritima x

Hudsonia tomentosa x

Iva frutescens x

Juncus gerardii x

Lathyrus japonicus x x

Adft9chea maritima x
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Limonium nashii x

Lophotocarpus spongiosus x

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Mertensia maritima x x

Plantago juncoides x

Potentilla anserina x x x

Puccinellia maritima x

Puccinellia paupercula x x x

Rosa rugosa x
Ruppia maritima x x x

Salicornia bigelovii x

Salicornia europaea x

Salsola kali X x

Samolus parviflorus x

Scirpus maritimus x

Scirpus paludosus x

Solidago sempervirens x

Spartina alterniflora x

Spartina patens x

Spergularia marina x

Sueda americana x

Sueda linearis x

Sueda maritima x

Sueda richii x

Triglochin maritima x

Xanthium echinatum x x x

Zostera marina x

KEY TO'CHARACTER CROS S REFERENCING OF MOUNTED SPECIMENS

Au ........... auricle

Cl ........... clasping-leaved

Co ........... collar

H ............ head

I ............ inflorescence

If ........... female inflorescence

Im ........... male inflorescence

L ............ leaf

La. ........... leaf axil

Lft .......... leaflet

Li ........... ligule

Linv ......... involucral leaf

Ls ........... leaf sheath

Pt ........... petal

R ............ root

Rh ........... rhizome

S ............ stem

Sn ........... stolorr

Sp ........... sepal

St ........... stipule

Te ........... tendril

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES

Ruppia maritima Ditch-grass, widgeon grass

GROWTH HABIT: An annual, submersed, aquatic plant wi th numberous thread-

like leaves.

HABITAT: Submersed in quiet saline a nd brackish backwaters, salt-

pannes in salt marshes, and water-filled depressions on

brackish mudflats.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Requires continual submersion for survival, forms dense

lush patches in salt-pannes, tends to be sparsely dis-

tributed in other habitats. Flowering in late June and

July, fruits maturing late July-September.

ROOTS: Essentially none, the lower portion of the stem may be

partially buried in the muddy substrate.

STEMS: Thread-like, alternately forking, profusely branched.

LEAVES: Alternate, threadlike, 2-10 cm long, with transparent basal

sheaths, the sheaths 0.2-12 mm long.

FLOWERS: Inconspicuous.

FRUITS: Usually occurring in clusters of four, individually long-

stemmed, obliguely ovoid, pointed, 1.5-3 mm long, brownish-

gray at mat urity.

Zostera marina Eelgrass

GRO WTH HABIT: A submersed, perennial, aquatic, herb, grass-like with

extensive rhizomes.

HABITAT: Saline waters over muddy (occasionally sandy) substrates,

occasional in water-filled depressions on saline tidal flats.

Zostera marina Cont.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Probably the most important plan% from an ecological

standpoint; of subtidal habitats in our geograhic

range. In addition to providing shelter and being an

important component of food chains for hundreds of

marine organisms it contributes significantly to the

nutrient content of Surrounding waters upon decomposition.

It reaches its greatest development during the summer,

however, plants can be observed the year round in most

areas.

RHIZOMES: Extensive, simple to profusely branching up to 5 mm

in diameter, covered by a thin chestnut-brown skin.

STEMS: Simple or sparingly branched, if branched the joints

obscured by the surrounding leaf sheaths, stems some-

times several meters in length depending partly on the

depth of the water.

LEAVES: Alternate grass-like, flat, sheathing the stem at the

base, with parallel margins (not tapering) up to 1 m

in length, 5-7 major longitudinal veins (and numerous

lesser ones), the tips either bluntly rounded or

shallowly notched.

FLOWERS: Unisexual, inconspicuous, green, arranged in a pair of

alternating rows (appearing as if braided) enclosed in

the long transparent leaf sheaths.

SEEDS: Barrel shaped, 3-4 mm long, arranged like the flowers,

ripening from July to October.

Triglochin maritima Arrow-grass

*CAUTION: This plant may be carelessly confused with Plantago juncoides.

Careful examination of the plants will avert this error.

GROWTH HABIT: A small to moderate plant with very long, slender, mostly

basal, sheathing leaves, a deep perennial rootstock, and

inconspicuous green flowers on an erect spike.

HABITAT; From slightly below up to MffW` in saline and occasionally

brackish marshes.

ECONOTES: See caution, the only poisonous inhabitant of salt marshes.

ROOTS: Deep, perennial, woody, the summit of the root emerging from

the substrate, this emergent portion densely covered by white

to straw-colored scales made up of the persistent dead remains

of the previous year's leaf bases.

STEMS: Erect, unbranched, very tough, fibrous. The upper portion

bearing the flowers and fruits, essentially leafless but

the sheathing bases of the leaves sometimes giving the

lower portion of the stem the appearance of bearing leaves.

LEAVES: Basal, in a rosette, long (occasionally over 50 cm), very

narrow.- tubular, hollow (similar to chive leaves), gray-

lime-green, the bases of the leaves clasping the stem.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Arising on very short individual stems branching from the

main stem, the flowers made'up of small green scales, the

fruits narrow egg-shaped with 6 strong longitudinal ribs

and a sharp 6-pointed crown at the'tip of the fruit.

Lophotocarp!@s spongiosus

GROWTH HABIT: Upright, with thick but narrow, spongy basal leaves and

a leafless stem bearing globelike clusters of seeds, a

Lophotocarpus'spongiosus Cont.

shallowly rooted annual herb.

HABITAT: Brackish tidal mudflats.'

OCCURRENCE: Extremely rare, although occasionally abundant in a given

locality; probably coastwide at one time but apparently

restricted to a handful of localities in the central and

southerly regions of the coast at present.

ECONOTES: A very vulnerable species, sensitive to ice damage, other

disruptions, and pollution. In the event of locating

specimens, the State Planning Office, Critical Areas

Program, should be informed.

ROOTS: Stringy, shallow, 1-1.5 mm in diameter, whitish-gray

with numerous regularly spaced cross partitions.

STEMS: Leafless, essentially unbranched except at the summit

where it may produce 1-4 whorls of 1-3 branches on which

the flowers are borne.

LEAVES: Strictly basal, in an open rosette, essentially bladeless,

the petiole very thick and spongy, up to 30 cm in height.

0.8-1.2 cm broad, with 3 green sepals and 3 white petals

which fall off early in the season.

SEEDS: 2.6-3 mm long, wedge-shaped with a sharp-pointed horizontal

beak at the apex, arranged in a tight globose head approxi-

mately 1 cm across.

GRASSES, SEDGES AND RUSHES (Pooceae, Cyperaceae, Juncaceae)

*CAUTION: These families comprise what is probably the most con-

fusing and difficult to identify assemblage of coastal wetland indicator

plants. Their classification and systematics are extremely technical and

complex. However, enough basic differences usually exist to provide clear

separation of species after a careful examination, often on the basis of

vegetative characters. A general field key to indicator species based

on vegetative and ecological characteristics follows. More so than with

other groups of plants, supportive information from floral and fruit

characters is desirable for verification of preliminary identifications.

The vegetative key offered here should not be relied upon as a final

authority.

GENERAL FIELD KEY TO GRASS-LIKE COASTAL WETLAND INDICATOR SPECIES

1. Stems triangular in cross section ...................................... 2

1. Stems round in cross section ........................................... 6

2. Ligule present (Carex) ............................................. 3

2. Ligule lacking (Scirpus) ........................................... 5

3. Plants of Dunes .................................... Carex silicea

3. Plants of Salt Marshes ......................................... 4

4. Frail.plants, less than 30 cm ............... Carex mackenziei

4. Robust plants, 50-150 cm ...................... Carex paleacea

5. -Leaf sheaths uniformly veined as in the leaves.Scirpus maritimus.

5. Front face of leaf sheaths membranaceous, delicately veined .....

.................... 0......0................... Scirpus paludosus

6. Stems without nodes or leaves ................... Eleocharis halophila

6. Nodes and leaves present ............... o........ ............... 7

7. Pith solid ....................................... Juncus gerardii
7. Pith hollow ............... o ..................................... 8

8. Grasses of Dunes, beaches, and seastrands .................. 9

8. Grasses of salt marshes ................................... 11

9. Plants in small tufts, rarely up to 30 cm high,

inhabitants of sea strands and beaches... ...............

................................. Puccinellia paupercula

9. Large coarse plants (often over 1 m) ................. 10

10. Leaves broad and flat, mainly an inhabitant of

beaches ........................... Elymus arenarius.

10. Leaves narrow and involute, mainly an inhabitant

of dunes ................... Ammophila breviligulata

11. Leaves strongly two-ranked ........... Distichlis spicata

11. Leaves not strongly two-ranked ....................... 12

12. Ligule white, papery-waxy ..... Puccinellia maritima

12. Ligule whitish, topped by a dense fringe of hairs.

(Spartina) ...................................... 13

13. Leaves narrow, involute ................. Spartina patens

13. Leaves broad, flat (occasionally involute) .............

.................................. Spartina alterniflora

Ammophila breviligulata Dune Grass

GROWTH HABIT: A large, robust, wiry, deep-rooted, perennial grass.

HABITAT: Dunes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: An absolutely critical species for the natural main-

tenance of coastal dune systems. Probably the single

most important species due to the strong erosion re-

sistant substrate-binding capacity of its deep spreading

roots.

.RHIZOMES: Extremely deep,woody, extensively branching and laterally

creeping, covered with a thick shaggy brown skin.

STEMS: Stiffly erect, up to 1 m high, with a shiny finish.

LEAVES: Long, stiff, often bent backwards, very narrow, almost

invariably tightly involute.
INFLORESCENCE/
FLOWERS/FRUITS: A stiff, dense, constricted spike, made up of thousands of

tightly overlapping flower/fruit bearing scales, generally

cylindrical but tapering gradually towards both ends, white

to sometimes pinkish or purplish, 10-40 cm in length,

usually about 1/10 as broad as long.

Distichlis spicata Spike-Grass

GROWTH HABIT: A robust, moderate sized, perennial grass with extensive

well developed rhizomes, the sexes on separate plants.

HABITAT: At and just above MHW in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; mostly in the southern region of the

coast.

Distichlis spicata Cont.

ECONOTES: Often occurring in a lush dense belt along the upland

borders of our more southerly salt marshes, it frequently

abutts Spartina patens on the down-tide border of these

belts. Its tough ropy rhizomes comprise the dominant

component of the rhizome mat in this region.

RHIZOMES: Tough, thick (3-6 mm), white, ropy, extensively branching

and spreading laterally, interweaving to form an extremely

dense tough mat 5-10 cm below the soil surface, covered by

overlapping papery scales, see econotes.

STEMS: Erect, fairly stout, 10 cm to over a meter in height,

typically unbranched.
LEAVES: Alternate, distinctly 2-ranked, 5-'15 cm long, usually

involute, generally a light gray-green.

INFLORESCENCE: A tight cylindrical cluster made up of many flattened

heads, the heads comprised of alternating ranks of

small tightly overlapping boat-shaped pairs of scales

the flowers and fruits enclosed within these pairs of

scales. Heads on female plants generally larger and

more robust in comparison to male plants in the same

population.

El)2us arenarius Strandwbeat

GROWTH HABIT: A large, robust, coarse perennial grass.

HABITAT: Primarily just above MHW extending up to the limits of

equinox tides on sand or gravel beaches and loose sub-

strates. Occasional on dunes.

Elymus arenarius Cont.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Forms very tough, wiry, extensive rhizome systems, thereby

archoring otherwise unstable substrates. The stiff,,flowering

stems and dead leaves persist through winter and are identi-

able throughout most of the winter.

RHIZOMES: Extensive, stout, branching, creeping laterally.

LEAVES: Alternate, coarse, very firm, very wide (up to 1.5 cm),

sometimes involute, up to 75 cm. in length.

STEMS: Very stout, coarse, up to 1.5 m. high.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Arranged in stiff, dense, constricted spike up to 30 cm, long

and usually about a tenth of its length in diameter, occurring

at the apex of the stem. Spike constructed of ascending sets

of paired scales, often giving the head a rectangular appearance.

Puccinellia maritima Goosegrass

*CAUTION: Very difficult to distinguish superficially from P. pLu2-

ercula. The only clear-cut distinguishing characters are

the length of the anthers during flowering and the length

of the mature grain. A number of slight "differences of

degree" are manifested in other morphological characters

and apparent habitat preference. These species are un-

doubtedly often confused with one another. Fortunately,

both are indicators.

GROWTH HABIT: A small to moderate perennial grass.

HABITAT: Slightly below to more often at or just above MHW, mostly

in salt marshes, occasional in other saline habitats.

Puccinellia maritima Cont.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: See *Caution. A frequent early colonizer of disturbed areas

where it tends to occur in isolated tufts. Similarly dis-

tributed or patchy throughout undisturbed areas of the marsh.

Mostly flowering very early (May-June) and maturing and shed-

ding its grains by the end of July, the stems persistent through-

out the growing season but usually drying and turning brown in

July.

ROOTS: Shallow, fibrous, whitish, sometimes developing a diminutive

stolon late in the growing season.

STEMS: Often in dense clumps, erect or leaning but stiff, 15 cm to

1 m. high, terminating in a branched flower cluster (inflore-

scence), 5-30 cm long, the branches straight, diverging at

various angles from the main axis.

LEAVES: Alternate, firm, usually involute late in the growing season,

4-20 cm. long, with a white-waxy ligule in the axils.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Flowers and fruits enclosed in a complex array of over-

lapping papery scales at the tips of the inflorescence

branches, anthers 1.4-2.1 mm. long, grain 2-2.2 mm. long.

Puccinellia paupercula Goosegrass

*CAUTION: See *Caution for P. maritima.

GROWTH HABIT: A small, usually tufted, perennial grass.

HABITAT: Just below and up to (occasionally above) MHW, predomi-

nantly on sea strands and coarse beaches, less frequent

on salt marshes.

Puccinellia. paupercula Cont.

OCCURRENCE: Frequent and sometimes abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: See *caution. Most often growing in small separated tufts

just below MHW, flowering early and continuing to flower

.and fruit throughout the growing season, also remaining green

and healthy in appearance for that duration.

ROOTS: As in P. maritima.

STEMS: In dense clumps, 5-45 cm high, usually appearing to be

stunted. Inflorescence as in P. maritima but proportionally

smaller.

LEAVES: Alternate, soft, usually flat, up to 12 cm long, with a

white papery ligule in the axils.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: As in P. maritima but anthers 0.5-1 mm long, grain 1.7-2.0 mm

long.

Spar tima alterniflora Salt-water Cord Grass

GROWTH HABIT: A robust, extensively rhizomatous, perennial grass.

HABITAT: Usually below MHW, occasionally up to MHW, mostly in salt

marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Probably the single most commonly recognized and certainly

one of the most characteristic indicators of salt marshes.

S. alterniflora will inhabit disturbed or uncolonized areas

up to MHW but most typically and abundantly it lushly inhabits

a fairly broad belt on the seaward borders of salt marshes.

RHIZOMES.- Extensive, white, branching and loosely interlaced, covered

with delicate papery scales, flaccid to delicate-spongy.

Spartina alterniflora Cont.

STEMS: Stiffly erect, stout, robust, very thick at the base, from

20 cm to over 2 m in height, producing a conspicuous sweet

grassy odor when bruised.

LEAVES: Alternate, flat (becoming involute if dried), wide (0.5-1.5

cm), usually quite long, sometimes over 75 cm, very smooth

to the touch, the surface sometimes appearing shiny, angular

salt crystals often visible on the leaf surface.

INFLORESCENCE: Not very conspicuous, many branched but the branches diverging

at such an acute angle that the head is strongly constricted

laterally. The individual branches each bearing a pair of

adjacent rows of small narrow scaly heads. The individual

heads bearing the fruits and flowers.

Spartina patens Salt-Meadow Grass

*CAUTION: This species is sometimes carelessly confused with.Distichlis.

spicata. However, its texture, color, inflorescence, and

rhizomes are distinctly different. Careful examination will

avert any problem of confusing the two.

GROWTH HABIT: A small to moderate, erect, wiry perennial grass.

HABITAT: From just below up to MHW almost exclusively in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Along with S. alterniflora, this species to a large extent

defines the biotic communities which we commonly label salt

marshes. The tough wiry extensive rhizomes of S. patens are

critically important in maintaining the long-term stability

of coastal marshes.

Spartina patens Cont.

RHIZOMES: Extensive, thin (1.5-3 mm), tough, wiry usually dark gray

in color.

STEMS: Stiffly erect, wiry, 15-75 cm in height, young plants

bright green, becoming dusky later in the season and

usually turning maroon near the base of the plant. The

stems remaining even after being killed back to the rhizomes

by frost, the new plants penetrating this mat of dead stems

the following spring.

LEAVES: Alternate, stiff, very narrow, almost invariably involute,

usually 3-5 leaves on a given-plant, the leaves often 2-

ranked to some degree but rarely strongly so, the leaves

usually diverging stiffly from the stem at a su bstantial

angle but less than 90*, leaves with fine but deep longi-

tudinal channels in the upper surface.

INFLORESCENCE: One to four short branched spikes arising from near the

tip of the unbranched stem, each spike made up of a pair

of closely adjacent rows, the rows c omprised of a series

of closely overlapping scales, flowers and fruits con-

tained within the scales, the spikes often gray-purple to

a rich purple-brown in color.

Carex Sedge

*CAUTION: Carex is an immense almost incomprehensibly complex genus

of worldwide distribution with representatives in almost

every conceivable type of habitat. In Maine alone, over

150 species occur. The three indicator species included

Carex Cont.

here are fortunately well defined and distinct from any

close upland relatives that are likely to be found in

adjacent areas. However, similar species do occur in

inland habitats. Where any question exists over final

identification it is prudent to consult an expert.

Carex mackenziei Sedge

GROWTH HABIT: A small, frail, often drooping, perennial sedge; grassy

in general appearance.

HABITAT: At and just above MHW in well-developed mature salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Rare but occasionally abundant in a given locality; coastwide,

ECONOTES: Flowering very early (May-June), also dying back early usually

having disappeared by mid-July. Rhizome system minimally

developed, spreading very slowly.

RHIZOMES: Poorly developed, shallow.

STEMS: 10-40 cm in height, smooth, soft, delicate (almost thread-

like).

LEAVES: 7-30 cm long, soft, flat, narrow (1-2.5 mm broad), sheath

closed, veinless, membranaceous, ligule well developed.

INFLORESCENCE: Made up of 2-6 small (0.5-1.2 cm) heads, the top most head

with male (staminate) flowers at the base, the remainder of

the head and other heads comprised of female (pistillate)

flowers.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Enclosed in a sac-like structure (p erigynium), perigynium

ovid, 2-5-3.3 mm long, 1.6-2 mm broad, closely covered by

broad reddish-brown scales. Seed flattened-egg-shaped,

Carex mackenziei Cont.

shiny, often with the re mains of the stigma persisting

as a dark-brown beak.

Carex paleacea Sedge

GROWTH HABIT: A large, lushly developed perennial sedge. Grasslike

in general appearance.

HABITAT: Just above MHW in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Most often growing in very dense stands adjacent to the

upland borders of salt marshes.

RHIZOMES: Extensive, white, ropy, and scaly, tightly interwoven into

a tough mat up to 10 cm deep in the substrate.

STEMS: Flowering stems 0.1-1.5 m in height, overtopped by the
sterile leafy stem's 0.2-1.7 m, sharply 3-angled, arising

directly from the rhizomes.

LEAVES: 3.5-12.0 mm broad, flat, smooth, strongly ribbed, sheath

closed, the face opposite the blade veinless and membran-

aceous, ligule well developed.

INFLORESCENCE: Of 2 types (male and female) on each plant, both pendant

on long slender stems. Female (pistillate) spikes 2-6,

scattered, 2-8 cm long, 0.8-2 cm thick, the scales straw

colored and extending beyond the fruits (and flowers).

Male (staminate) spikes 2-4, situated above the female

spikes, 2-4 cm long, 3-6 mm thick.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Enclosed in an inflated sac (perigynium), perigynium

round-elliptical, usually flattened on one side, with

Carex paleacea Cont.

very fine veins running lengthwise. The seed usually

eliptical, with an evident beak, usually with an obvious

crease in one side.

Carex silicea

GROWTH HABIT: A wiry, perennial sedge growing in scattered tufts or

clumps; grasslike in general appearance.

HABITAT: Dunes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and frequently abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Although C. silicea produces and spreads by means of

rhizomes, the most developed underground portion of the

plant is the extremely deep vertical primary root.

Additional anchorage, nutrition, and moisture are pro-

vided through thousands of hair-like secondary roots.

The primary root persists year after year and generates

a new 91plant" each spring.

ROOTS: Deep well-developed primary root with many thread-like

secondary roots.

STEMS: Slender, wiry, 15-80 cm high, often arching, triangular

in x-sec. but not sharply so.

LEAVES: Fairly stiff, narrow (2-4.5 mm), often involute, bases of

blades with a pair of rounded auricles. Sheaths long,

uniformly veined like the leaves, ligule well developed.

INFLORESCENCE: Comprised of 3-9 elipsoid to egg-shaped heads (0.6-1.4 cm)

long, distributed over the upper 2.5-10 cm of the stem.

Carex silicea Cont.

FRUITS/FLOWERS: Enclosed in a strongly flattened sac (perigynium), the

perigynium firm and opaque, with evident longitudinal

veins.

Eleocharis halophila

GROWTH HABIT: A low, wiry, erect, leafless, perennial sedge; appearing

as a delicate, upright, naked stem topped by a tiny nar-

rowly egg-shaped head.

HABITAT: At MHW in well developed salt-marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Rare but occasionally abundant in a given locality; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Producing wiry, shallow, extensively spreading rhizomes; an

important shallow component of the rhizome mat of salt-marshes

a small plant which is easily, and probably often, overlooked.

STEMS: Simple, erect, stiffish, very slender, becoming maroon toward

the base 3-60 cm high. -

LEAVES: Leafless, but with a short closed sheath surrounding the

base of each stem.*

RHIZOMES: Slender, but very strong, wiry, extensively spreading,

dark colored, with plants arising at intervals.

INFLORESCENCE: A narrowly elliptical head, 0.3-1.7 cm long, 2-6 mm thick,

of tightly overlapping scales, the lowermost scale forming

a complete collar around the top of the stem. Scales

reddish-brown with transparent margins, lustrous, 3-5 mm long.

FRUITS (SEEDS): Hard, shiny, borne behind each scale of the inflorescence,

egg-shaped to slightly pear-shaped, yellowish to dark brown

Eleocharis halophila Cont.

or olive, 1.2-1.8 mm, long by 1-1.4 mm. broad, topped by

a "hatlike" tubercle, tubercle bulbous, tapering to

a conical summit, higher than broad, 0.2-0.5 mm. broad

at base.

Scirpus Salt-Marsh Bulrush

*CAUTION: Both S. maritim. us and S. paludosus are members of a large

taxonomically confused complex of species (section Phyl-

lantheli) that is badly in need of revision. No two of

the botanical manuals in general widespread usage agree

entirely on even the names let alone the technical des-

criptions of the two species. Varietal distinctions,

although important, are even more nebulous.

Scirpus maritimus Bulrush

GROWTH HABIT: A robust, coarse, upright, perennial sedge; grass-like in

appearance.

HABITAT: Slightly above to slightly below MHW in the wetter portions

of salt marshes, often in shallow salt pannes, rarely on

protected sea-strands.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: S. maritimus forms extensive, branched, loosely interwoven

rhizome systems. At intervals along these rhizome systems

starchy tubers develop. During the following spring these

tubers develop into new plants (which retain this tuber as

a bulbous base throughout the growing season). This plant

reaches its greatest stature in very wet spots, particularly

Scirpus maritimus Cont.

in shallow salt.pannes. They tend to be stunted and

fruit poorly in drier portions of salt marshes.

STEMS: 0.2-1.5 m in height, a 5-1.5 cm thick at base, sharply

3-angled, the sides collapsing slightly to make the

sharp-ridge edges stand out.

LEAVES: Alternate, dark green with a pronounced midrib, 3-5 mm

broad, sheaths closed, veined much as the leaf blades,

2-4 leaves at the base of the inflorescence, the longest

(15-25 cm) sometimes appearing as an extension of the

stem or as foliage leaves.

RHIZOMES: As discussed in Econotes.

INFLORESCENCE: Made up of one to many narrowly elliptical (1-4 cm x 3-8 mm)

spikelets of tightly spirally overlapping tan-brown scales.

Spikelets either stemless and borne in a tight cluster at

the summit of the stem or terminating long individual

stems radiating from a point at the summit of the stem.

FRUIT: (Seeds) Borne individually behind each scale, upside-down

egg-shaped with a short blun t tip,,flatly triangular in

cross-section, 2.8-5 mm long, 2-3.5 mm broad, very dark

brown, shiny.

Scirpus paludosus Bayonet-grass

*CAUTION: See *caution for S. maritimus.

GROWTH HABIT: As in S. maritimus.
* , I
HABITAT: As in S. maritimus.

Scirpus paludosus Cont.

OCCURRENCE: As in S. maritimus.

ECONOTES: As in S. maritimus.

STEMS: 15 cm-1.5 m in height, 2-8 mm thick at base, 3-angled but not

as sharply as S. maritimus.

LEAVES: As above, but usually light green, 2-12 mm, broad, leaf sheaths

closed, membranaceous,,-ith 9-12 delicate vertical veins near

the summit. 2-5 involucral leaves at the base of the inflore-

scence, the longest (5-15 cm) appearing as a continuation of

the stem, the others diminutive.

RHIZOMES: As in S. maritimus.

INFLORESCENCE: As in S. maritimus, but the spikelets, pointed-egg-shaped,

1-2 cm. long, 4-8 am broad, dark reddish brown sometimes

approaching black.

FRUIT: (Seeds) Generally as in S. maritimus, but more or less spade

shaped in outline with a short blunt tip at the flattened

top, shallow semi-circular (plano-convex) in cross-section,

2.8-4 mm. long, 2-3.5 mm broad, olive-dark-brown, shiny.

Eriocaulon parkeri Pipewort

GROWTH HABIT: A small plant with a basal rosette of narrow tapered leaves

and a single delicate vertical stem topped by a tight button-

like head of tiny inconspicuous flowers.

HABIT: Brackish tidal flats.

OCCURRENCE: Extremely rare, very possibly no longer existent within the

state.

ECONOTES: Apparently very sensitive to pollution and disturbance.

Eriocaulon,parkeri Cont.

ROOTS: Shallow, threadlike, with numerous conspicuous cross partitions.

STEMS: Erect, unbranched, frail.

LEAVES: Strictly basal, awl-shaped, 1-5 cm long.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Tiny, inconspicuous, interspersed with tiny scales, aggregated

into a small button-like head 2-7 mm broad, tawny in color.

Juncus Rerardii Black Grass

GROWTH HABIT: A stiffly erect, wiry, perennial rush. Grassy in general

appearance.

HABITAT: At and just above MHW in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Produces very tough, but shallow wiry rhizome systems. An

important component of the stabilizing rhizome mat in salt

marsh communities. Black grass is most often observed in a

dense well defined band towards the upland limit of salt

,marshes. From a distance, the dark brown seed capsules

lend a dark colored appearance to patches of the plant and

hence, the name Black Grass.

RHIZOMES: Dark colored, horizontal, wiry, shallow and spreading.

STEMS: Erect 15-80 cm in height, arising at frequent intervals from

the rhizome.

LEAVES: Alternate sheaths open, topped by an evident collar of

accessory tissue (auricle) and continuing into a flat very

narrow leaf. A single involucral leaf occurs at the base

of the inflorescence, appearing as a continuation of the stem.

Juncus gerardii Cont.

INFLORESCENCE: Branched but not spreading, 0.1-10 cm in length, usually

longer than the involucral leaf.

FLOWERS: 2.0-3.5 mm in diameter, individually on very short stems

(or stemless), 3 papery chestnut colored sepals and 3

similar petals.

FRUIT: Dark reddish-brown, football shaped from the side and

roundly triangular in end view, 2.0-3.5 mm in length,

seeds minute and of similar coloring.

Atriplex glabriuscula Sea-beach Orach

GROWTH HABIT: Variable; simple to heavily branched, upright or sprawling

stout, usually lush in appearance, very succulqnt, fleshy,

shallow rooted, annual.

HABITAT: Just above MHW on beaches and sea strands.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: A. glabriuscula is, in a sense, a 'border' species. It

most abundantly inhabits the interface region between the

areas of daily tidal influence and those areas which are

typically exposed only to eq uinox or storm tides. In this

area it may sometimes be observed as a belt of lush vege-

tation. On sandy beaches it is more likely to be scattered

intermittantly.

ROOTS: Simple and shallow.

STEMS: As discussed in growth habit, often irregularly ribbed,

the ribs frequently red-purplish, the lower and primary

branches nearly opposite one another, the upper branches

alternate.

Atriplex glabriuscula Cont.

LEAVES: Alternate, very thick and fleshy, triangular to egg-shaped,

up to 8 cm, in length, most often covered with a white waxy

mealy coating (glaucous bloom).

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Scattered in a small cluster in the axils of leaves at the

tips of the branches, tiny, the individual flowers each en-

closed by a Pair of fleshy egg-shaped to triangular bracts

(5-12 mm long), the margins of the bracts sometimes united

(fused) from the base to below the middle, each flower pro-

ducing a single seed 2-5 mm broad.

Atriplex patula Orach, Goosefoot

*CAUTION: A. patula is arbitrarily divided into a number of variable

overlapping varieties only one of which, var. littoralis,

is considered to be restricted to coastal habitats. The

problem is compounded by circular reasoning: one of the

characteristics that defines A. patula var. littoralis is

its occurrence in saline habitats. It is virtually impossible,

or the basis of technical characteristics, to distinguish

var. littoralis from the upland terrestrial varieties of

the species. Moreover, A. patula is very similar in appear-

ance to the non-indicator genius, Chenopodium, from which it

can be clearly distinguished only by means of floral and

fruit characters. Summarily, the use of A. patula as an

indicator species should be avoided whenever possible.

GROWTH HABIT: As with A. glabriuscula but generally less lush in appearance.

HABITAT: From the upper limits of equinox tides to just below MHW,

Atriplex patula Cont.

mostly in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: See *caution. Occasionally mixed with A. glabriuscula

on beaches or sea strands.

ROOTS: As in A. glabriuscula.

STEMS: As in A. glabriuscula but less evidently ribbed, up to

1-5m.

LEAVES: Alternate, fleshy but not nearly so as A..glabriuscula, narrow

to slightly triangular or egg-shaped, often with evident teeth

on the leaf margins.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: As in A. glabriuscula but much less fleshy, the bracts 1-5 mm

long, seeds 1-2 mm broad.

Salicornia bigelovii Dwarf Saltwort

GROWTH HABIT: A small, succulent, sparingly branched, jointed, shallowly

rooted annual, often reddish in color.

HABITAT: At and just above MHW in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Rarely observed but sometimes frequent in a given locality;

apparently restricted to the southern region of the coast.

ECONOTES: Occasional individuals tend to be scattered throughout a

marsh environment. Relatively dense stands may be observed

at sites where some severe disruption (i.e. ice damage) has

occurred and produced open "colonizable" areas. In such

areas it can become abundant in one or two seasons.

ROOTS: Simple and shallow.

Salicornia bigelovii Cont.

STEMS: Usually simple or sometimes sparingly branched, erect,

rarely up to 30 cm high and commonly less than 10 cm,

clearly jointed, the individual joints 4-6 mm thick,

the JOINTS THICKER THAN LONG, a pair of small opposite

scales occurring at the top of each joint, the scales

with sharp outward pointing tips.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Mi nute, hidden in the axils of the scales on the upper

third of the plant.

Salicornia europaea Glasswort, Samphire

GROWTH HABIT: Generally like S. bigelovii but larg er and more branched.

HABITAT: As in S. bigelovii.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: As in S. bigelovii.

ROOTS: As in S.. bigelovii.

STEMS: Similar to S.bigelovii, but usually branched, erect, leaning

or prostrate, up to 40 cm high, often m ore than 20 cm, the

individual joints 1.5-3 (occasionally up to 5) mm thick, the

JOINTS LONGER THAN THICK, the scales blunt and flush with the

axis of the plant, not outward pointing.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: As in S. bigelovii.

Salsola kali Saltwort, Barilla-plant, Russian thistle

GROWTH HABIT: A prickly, much branched, shallowly rooted annual.

HABITAT: Just above MHW on beaches.

OCCURRENCE: Common; coastwide but most frequent in the southern range

Salsola kali Cont.

of the state.

ECONOTES: Salsola rarely occurs in dense stands. Most often,

scattered plants occur in the general area of the MHW

driftline on coastal sandy beaches.

ROOTS: Simple, shallow.

STEMS: Occasionally upright but more often sprawling, diffusely

branched, sometimes forming mats up to 50 cm across, very

tough, approaching woodiness.

LEAVES: Alternate, awl-shaped, stiff, spine-tipped.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Inconspicuous, minute.

Sueda Sea blite

*CAUTION: Four species of Sueda occur in Maine. At arm's length

they are practically identical. Even with proper magni-

fication, dissection tools, and mature fruiting material

a trained observer encounters difficulty in delineating

the species. Definite species identification can only

rarely be made from vegetative material, and then only by

an expert. Fortunately, all four species a re indicators.

Sueda americana Sea blite

GROWTH HABIT: Prostrate, densely covered with fleshy leaves, heavily

branched, shallow rooted annual.

HABITAT: At and just above MHW mostly on sea strands, occasional

in salt marshes.

Sueda americana Cont.

OCCURRENCE: Rare, or at least rarely identified; apparently coastwide,
but records are too few to give a clear indication. . Fewer

than five collections have been made of this plant since

1900 in the State of Maine. (Excluding those collected

for this work)

ECONOTES: Extremely variable in response to environmental conditions.

Seems generally to prefer sand or light gravel substrates

to the dense peaty soil of salt marshes. This species

tends to persist for a period of time,following frost,

after which the plant turns a deep magenta-to-violet.

ROOTS: Shallow and simple.

STEMS Usually prostrate, sprawling, heavily branched.

LEAVES: Alternate, very succulent, fleshy, up to 2.5 cm long.

FLOWERS: Minute, less than 3 mm broad, occurring in the axils of

the leaves, petals absent, 5 green sepals, irregular,

some of them usually strongly keeled.

FRUIT: A single seed produced by each flower, 1.2-1.5 mm broad,

tan-brown in color, fruits maturing very late (Sept.-Oct.).

Sueda linearis Sea blite

GROWTH HABIT: Usually erect or leaning, fleshy leaves, shallow rooted,

annual.

HABITAT: At and just above MHW in salt marshes, especially in

sandy areas.

Sueda linearis Cont.

OCCURRENCE: Frequent and often abundant. Mostly in the southern areas

of the coast.

ECONOTES: Variable in response to environmental conditions but probably

the most distinctive of the Suedas. Turns very dark green-black

when preserved. Usually dying back with the first good frost.

ROOTS: Simple and shallow.

STEMS: Usually erect, up to 90 cm in height, stiff, sometimes with

evident irregular longitudinal ribs. Moderately branched,

the branches ascending sharply (as opposed to drooping), not

fleshy.

LEAVES: Alternate, long (sometimes more than 5 cm), very slender

cylindrical, usually about 20 times as long as broad.

Fleshy, deep green, lacking a waxy coating (glaucous bloom).

.FLOWERS: Similar to S..americana but the sepals uniformly rounded on

the back.

FRUIT: Similar to S.,americana but the seeds 1.2-1.4 mm broad, black.

Sueda maritima Sea blite

GROWTH HABIT: Extremely variable, erect, ascending, or prostrate. Simple

or branching, fleshy leaved, shallow rooted, annual.

HABITAT: Slightly above to slightly below MHW in salt marshes,

occasional on sea strands.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

Sueda maritima Cont.

ECONOTES Our most common, abundant, and widely distributed Sueda,

S. maritima is by far the most variable. It exhibits a

wide range of forms in response to environmental variation.

It tends to be scattered throughout a marsh but may densely

colonize disturbed areas. Dying back very soon after the

first frost.

ROOTS: Shallow and simple.

STEMS: Highly variable, stiff and erect to weak and ascending to

limp and sprawling, simple to heavily branched, rarely as

long as 50 cm, not fleshy.

LEAVES: Alternate, very fleshy, usually 2-3 cm. in length, very

slender cylindrical, typically covered with a white waxy

coating (glaucous bloom) which gives the plant a blue

green or gray-green appearance.

'FLOWERS: As in S. americana but sepals generally rounded (or with

a faint keel) on the back.

FRUITS: As in S. amer_icana but seeds 1.8-2 mm broad, reddish-brown

to mahogany, occasionally black.

Sueda richii Sea blite

GROWTH HABIT: Prostrate, heavily branched, fleshy leaved, shallow rooted,

annual.

HABITAT: At and just above MHW in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Infrequent but sometimes abundant in a given locality; mostly

in the southern range of the coast.

Sueda richii Cont.

ECONOTES: Variable, like other members of the genus. Specimens as

small as 1 cm have been observed to fruit.

ROOTS: Simple and shallow.

STEMS: Prostrate, heavily and alternately branched, the branches

also lying flat on the substrate and thereby generally

two-ranked, stems stiff, not fleshy. Forming mats up to

50 cm across.

LEAVES: Alternate, fleshy, generally slender cylindrical but

usually flattened on the lower surface, up to 1-4 cm

in length except on f lowering branches (3.5-5.5 mm long

in the situation), dark green, lacking a waxy covering.
*FLOWERS/FRUITS: As in S. americana.

Acnida cannabina Water Hemp

GROWTH HABIT: A coarse, erect, thick stemmed, leafy, shallowly rooted

annual herb.

HABITAT: Well below MHW, often on the lower borders of salt marshes,

similarly placed on rich tidal shores.

OCCURRENCE: Uncommon but occasionally abundant in a given locality; only

in the southern range of the Maine coast.

ECONOTES: Often interspersed with.Spartina alterniflora.

ROOTS: Shallow, minimally developed.

STEMS: Erect, slender to very stout, fleshy (often appearing to be

partially collapsed internally), hairless, from 30 cm to

over 2 m in height.

LEAVES: Long, slender, spear-head shaped (lanceolate), tapering

Acnida cannabina Cont.

FLOWERS: Greenish, tiny, inconspicuous, interspersed with numerous,

tiny, pointed, leafy bracts, arranged in simple or large

clusters originating from the leaf axils.

FRUIT: ovoid, 2.5-4 mm long, with longitudinal ribs, seeds egg-

shaped, 2-3.5 mm long.

Arenaria peploides Seabeach Sandwort

GROWTH HABIT: A robust, sprawling, opposite leaved, succulent, deep-rooted

herb.

HABITAT: Just above MHW on sandy, gravelly, and rocky beaches.

OCCURRENCE: Infrequent, occasionally abundant in a given area; coastwide

but more commonly in the northern range of the state.

ECONOTES: New plants spread radially from the old root system each

spring forming dense mats up to 1 m across.

ROOTS: Slender, deep, branched, perennial.

STEMS: Simple to heavily branched.

LEAVES: Opposite, simple, sessile, clasping, each opposing pair

forming a thin collar of leafy tissue across the stem,

leaves extremely thick and fleshy, spade-shaped with the,

tip pointing outwards.

FLOWERS: Borne in leafy clusters at thetips of branches or may

occur singly in the axils of the upper leaves, each flower

7-12 mm broad with 6 white petals and 6 green sepals.

FRUIT: A capsule, globose or nearly so, thick skinned, 5-12 mm

broad, divided into 3-5 sections, each section containing

a few pear-shaped seeds, the seeds 3-4.5 mm long.

Spergularia marina Sand Spurrey

GROWTH HABIT: A small, leafy, shallow fibrous rooted annual herb.

HABITAT: Above MHW in salt marshes and stable sandy saline habitats,

usually not in loose sands.

OCCURRENCE: Common although not usually abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: The fibrous roots of sand spurrey allow it to exist very

successfully in sandy habitats that are stabilized by the

presence of deeper rooted species. The shallowness of its

own roots prevents it from effectively colonizing the loose

sands of open dunes and beaches.

ROOTS: Shallow, diffuse, fibrous.

STEMS: Erect, occasionally up to 40 cm sometimes sprawling, with

very long branches -(inproportion to the plant).

LEAVES: Opposite, up to 4 cm long, 6-15 mm broad, with a blunt

point at the top, hairless or sometimes covered with sticky

hairs, stipules triangular about as long (2-4 mm) as broad.

Usually brownish to off-green in color.

FLOWERS: In small branches clusters towards the upper fourth of

the plant, the 5 brownish-green sepals much longer than

the 5 inconspicuous white or pink petals.

FRUIT: An ovoid capsule 3.5-6.5 mm long, filled with pale brown

to reddish pear-shaped seeds, seeds 0.5-0.8 mm. long.

Cakile edentula Sea Rocket
GROWTH HABIT: A conrse, stemmy, fleshy leaved, shallow rooted annual._

45 <f

Cak@le edentula Cont.

HABITAT: Slightly above and sometimes down to MHW on beaches, oc-

casional on sea strands.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Sea rocket occurs most abundantly in the proximity of the

MHW drift line of sandy beaches. It often co-occurs with

Salsola kali. Like most plants of the habitat, it rarely

occurs in dense colonies, rather, individuals tend to be

scatte red and well separated from one another. An excel-

lent diagnostic character is the pungent peppery juice

that the plant exudes when damaged. Both the odor and

flavor are unique in beach environments. This is es-

pecially helpful since very often all that can be found

of a plan t is the tough persistent stems.

ROOTS: Shallow and simple.

STEMS: Usually prostrate, spreading, very tough, and fibrous, simple

to widely and tortuously branched.

FLOWERS: Small, 4-11 mm.' with 4 green sepals and 4 delicate lavender-

pinkish-white petals, 6 stamens (4 long and 2 short).

FRUIT: A jointed capsule, 10-20 mm long, the lower half cylindrical

in shape, the upper portion generally egg-shaped but tapering

to a slender point.

Potentilla anserina Silverweed

GROWTH HABIT: An erect, rhizomatous plant with leafless flowering stems,

each bearing a single gold flower, the leaves pinnately

compound with white hairy undersides.

HABITAT, Above MHW on beaches, sea strands, and salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Spreads rapidly by means of creeping stolons in the same

way as strawberries. The silvery appearance of the under-

side of the leaves results from the dense covering of fine

white silky hairs.

ROOTS: Deep and well-developed with a dark brown shaggy fibrous

skin.

STEMS: Simple, erect, unbranched, leafless, delicate, succulent,

usually pinkish in color.

FLOWERS: Borne singly at the tips of the stems, with 10 green,

usually hairy sepals, and 5 gold-yellow petals, the entire

blossom 1-2.5 cm broad.

FRUIT: A shallow hemispherical cluster of tan to brown to reddish

ovoid to nearly spherical seeds, the cluster appearing

somewhat like a dried up strawberry.

Rosa E22osa Salt Spray Rose

GROWTH HABITAT: A typical rose, very robust.

HABITAT: Ab ove MHW on dunes and beaches, mostly in exposed locations

where it is often subjected to windblown salt spray.

Rosa rugosa Cont.

OCCURRENCE: Common but sporadic; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Can be cultivated in non-coastal habitats but under

natural circumstances is restricted to coastal habitats.

Because of this property it should not be solely relied

upon as an indicator.

ROOTS: Very deep, branched, woody.

STEMS: Stout, branched, thorny.

LEAVES: Alternate, pinnately compound, the leaflets oval, with

very deep veins, a pair of stipules at the base of each

leaf, leaves very dark green.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: A large 5 petaled pink rose, fruit a large orange seedy

rose-hip.

Euphorbia polygonif olia Seaside Spurge

GROWTH HABIT: Leafy, branched, matted, with milky sap, and flowers of

very unusual structure.

HABITAT: Above MHW on beaches and sheltered areas of dunes.

OCCURRENCE: Rare or non-existent within the state.

ECONOTES: Possibly occurring on some of our offshore islands.

STEMS: Branched, sometimes sparingly, plants occasionally up

to 0.5 m across, in a mat on the substrate or ascending

at the tips, the stems exuding a thick acrid milky juice

when broken.

LEAVES: Mostly opposite, very light green, fleshy, narrow oblong

or narrow egg-shaped, up to 1.5 cm long, the midrib evident,

the tip of the leaf narrowing very suddenly to a short blunt

point.

Euphorbia polyronifolia Cont.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Yellow green, of very unusual structure, fruit a capsule.

Lathyrus japonicus Beach Pea

GROWTH HABIT: Nearly identical to the domestic garden pea but with usually

purple to blue or pink flowers.

HABITAT: Above MHW in sand and loose gravels of beaches and sea strands.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Often forming a very dense border along the upper borders

of beaches and sea strands. Plants rarely occur solitarily.

ROOTS: Slender, extensively branched and creeping.

STEMS: Sharply angled, widely branched, viny, up to 1.5 m in length,

adjacent plants usually intertangled.

LEAVES: Alternate, pinnately compound, each leaf with 4-10 leaflets,

the leaflets 1-5 cm long, 0.5-3.5 cm broad, usually a branched

tendril at the tip of the leaf, and a pair of squarish leafy

stipules at the base.

FLOWERS: Pink to magenta to blue, 1.5-2.8 cm long, 3-10 occurring on

each leafless flowering stalk.

FRUIT: A small relatively flat "pea-pod" 2.5-6.5 cm long.

Hudsonia tomentosa Beach Heath

GROWTH HABIT: A low shrubby, woody plant, multiply branched, with deep

spreading roots.

HABITAT: Dunes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; nearly coastwide, but much more fre-

quent in the southern portion of the coast.

Hudsonia tomentosa Cont.

ECONOTES: occasionally occurring as single plants but most often in

fairly extensive dense patches.

ROOTS: Slender, woody, deep, spreading laterally, covered by a dark

brown shaggy fibrous skin.

STEMS: Woody, low (up to 20 cm), erect to ascending or procumbent,

extensively spreading and branching.

LEAVES: Spirally alternate, gray-green, small, 1-1.8 mm long, narrowly

triangular, densely covered with fine wooly hair, the indivi-

dual leaves overlapping so tightly as to form a "scaly" cover-

ing surrounding the entire stem, the leaf-tips curving inward

toward the stem.

FLOWERS: Nested in the axils of the leaves on the outer tips of the

branches, each with 5 small sepals (2 mm long) and 5 bright

sulphur-yellow petals.

FRUIT: A small one or two seeded capsule.

Lechea maritima Pinweed

GROWTH HABIT: small to moderate,densely hairy leaves.and a leafy

overwintering rootstock.

HABITAT: Dunes and sandy coastal flats above MHW.

OCCURRENCE: Frequent but usually sporadic; almost exclusively along

the southern range of the coast.

ECONOTES: Possesses a stout, leafy, overwintering, rootstalk (candex).

The name pinweed from the appearance of the fruiting branches,

the globe shaped fruits at the ends of proportionately long

thin branches.

Lechea maritima Cont.

ROOTS: Very deep, stout, branching below the surface simple or

branching into several stiff upright stalks.

STEMS: OF 2 TYPES: Non-flowering shoots from the apex of the

rootstalk up to 10 cm high, covered with short dense wooly

hair; the flowering stems very stiff, upright or leaning,

with long straight branches, the branches diverging at

broad angles from the lower half of the stem, the branches

themselves similarly branched, main axis up to 30 cm high.

LEAVES: Thick but not fleshy, gray-green, closely overlapping, el-

liptical to spear-head shaped (narrow), the underside of

the leaves densely covered with wooly hair.
0 FLOWERS/FRUITS: Sepals in a cup shaped arrangement, fruit a globose capsule
1.5-2 mm broad with 2-5 small (.7-1.1 mm) seeds.

Ligusticum scothicum Scotch Lovage

GROWTH HABIT: An erect, very leafy perennial herb with white flowers in

flat-topped clusters, deep carrot-like roots, and a con-

spicuous parsley-like odor.

HABITAT: Above MHW in salt marshes and sea strands, occasional on

beaches.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Among the most flexible of species from the standpoint of

its ability to survive in a range of environmental conditions.

It occurs from fully exposed open coastal areas ranging into

brackish estuarine marshes in all types of substrates.

Ligusticum scothicum Cont.

ROOTS: Woody, robust, very deep, usually sparingly branched, covered

by a coarse brown skin.

STEMS: Usually several arising from the summit of the root, simple

or sparingly branched, characteristically reddish or purplish

toward the base.

LEAVES: Alternate, compound in subdivisions of 3 (ternate), up to

30 cm long, the coarsely and unevenly toothed leaflets some-

what fleshy,.2.5-5 cm long, the petiole flared at the base

and forming a coarsely-veined flared, collar around the stem.

FLOWERS: In flat-topped clusters at the summit of major stems, the

individual flowers tiny, white-cream colored, four-petaled.

FRUITS: Shiny, narrowly elliptical, 0.5-1.0 cm, with strong longi-

tudinal ribs.

Glaux maritima Sea Milkwort

GROWTH HABIT: A small, erect to ascending, opposite leaved, deep rooted,

perennial herb.

HABITAT: At and just above MHW in salt marshes and sea strands, oc-

casional on beaches.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: May be carelessly confused with Beach Sandwort (Arenaria

peploides) in the occasional situations where both occur

in the same locality.

ROOTS: Deep, nearly vertical, weak, loosely branched, whitened,

about the same thickness as the stem (2-4 mm).

STEMS: Erect or ascending, 5-30 cm high, simple to heavily branched.

Glaux maritima Cont.

LEAVES: Opposite, simple, sessile (lacking a petiole), oval to oblong,

5-15 mm long, 3-8 mm broad, partly clasping the stem at the

base.

FLOWERS: Borne singly in the axils of the upper leaves, 3-5 mm long,

5 pink to scarlet petals fused into a bell-shaped blossom.

FRUIT: A capsule, 2-5 mm long, slightly less broad.

Samolus parviflorus Water pimpernel

GROWTH HABIT: Small, erect, leaves strictly basal, shallow rooted, easily

overlooked, annual.

HABITAT: At and below MHW on.the shores of estuaries, ranging from

saline to brackish-conditions, occasional in most coastal

wetland habitats.

OCCURRENCE: Infrequent but usually abundant in a given locality; coastwide.

gCONOTES: Although water pimpernel occurs in saline habitats, it reaches

its greatest abundance.in brackish waters. It also appears to

be very tolerant to reduced light and often is observed in

shaded areas.

ROOTS: Shallow, fibrous.

STEMS: Mostly erect, up to 50 cm, simple or occasionally with minor

branching of the main axis towards the summit, leafless or

with very few tiny leaves, the inflorescence with short simple

branches.

LEAVES: Almost strictly basal in a tight rosette resting on the

substrate, 1-4 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cm broad, egg-shaped, dis-

tinctly veined.

Samolus parviflorus Cont.

FLOWERS: Small, 3-6 mm broad, 5 petalled white, slightly bell-shaped.

FRUIT: A capsule, 2-3 mm long.

Limonium nashii Sea Lavender

*CAUTION: Recent changes have been made in the nomenclature of this

genus. Formerly two species of Limonium (the other are

being L. carolinianum) were described for our geographic

range. This system has been revised such that only L. nashii

is now recognized; the previously distinguished L. carolinianum

is now lumped into L. nashii. However, it is unlikely that

this change will find its way into commonly used botanical manuals

for some time.

GROWTH HABIT: A moderately sized, showy, lavender flowered, basally leaved,

deep-rooted, perennial herb.

"HABITAT: Occasionally at but usually just above MHW in salt marshes,

occasional on sea strands.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Typically occurs in well stabilized substrates, notably the

rhizome mats of mature salt marshes. Infrequent in sandy

or gravelly substrates unless they are underlain by more

nutrient rich substrate. Often co-occurs wjth Seaside Golden-

rod. Very persistent. The stems remain long into the winter

and are occasionally identifiable even into early spring.

New plants arise from the old root each year.

Limonium nashii Cont.

ROOTS: Stout, very deep, vertical, woody, simple to sparingly

branched, covered with shaggy dark-brown skin.

STEMS: Leafless, up to 60 cm high, profusely branched at the

sumit into an expansive flower cluster.

LEAVES: Strictly basal up to 40 cm long, in a loose rosette,

generally egg-shaped, tapering very gradually to a long,

narrow, partially clasping base, often with reddish-magenta

to brownish splotches.

FLOWERS: In a large, open, profusely branched cluster, the individual

flowers with 5 sharp-pointed sepals united in a funnel

shaped arrangement and 5 dry papery lavender or white petals,
Ile the entire flower usually 2-2.5 mm long.
FRUITS: A small membranaceous capsule hidden within the persistent

sepals.

Mertensia maritima Oysterleaf, Sea Lungwort

GROWTH HABIT: Prostrate, creeping, with succulent blueish leaves, pink and

blue flowers, deep roots, perennial.
HABITAT: Above MHW on rocky or gravelly beaches, occasion'ally on

sand and sea strands.

OCCURRENCE: Uncommon, rarely abundant; coastwide but most frequent along

the northern range of the coast.

ECONOTES: Usually occurring as scattered individual plants, rarely

in small groups. Sometimes co-occurs with Arenaria peploides.
0 A totally unique plant, totally unmistakeable for anything

else. Invariably the color decays to yellow-ochre-rusty

Mertensia maritima Co nt.

brown after frost or after being picked, no matter what

efforts are made for preservation.

ROOTS: Woody, slender, deep.

STEMS: Prostrate, heavily branched, forming a dense mat creeping

along the substrate, generally radiating from the apex of

the root system toward the downshore, mats occasionally

approaching a meter across although typically 40-60 cm at

maturity.

LEAVES: Egg-shaped to rounded-diamond-shaped, up to 8 cm long,

slightly less wide, very thick and fleshy, distinctly blue

to blue-green in color from a dense waxy coating on the

leaf surfaces.

FLOWERS: In small, branched clusters at the tips of the branches,

the 5 petals fused into a bell to funnel-shaped blossom,

pink when young, becoming blue (rarely white) with age

and eventually falling off. The green dish-shaped calyx

persistent.

FRUIT: A small, shiny, sharp-pointed, but generally rounded nutlet,

borne in the persistent calyx.

Gerardia maritima Gerardia

GROWTH HABIT: An erect, narrow leaved, showy flowered, shallow rooted,

annual herb.

HABITAT: Above MHW, mostly in salt marshes, occasional in other

saline-brackish habitats.

Gerardia maritima Cont.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; mostly in the southern range of the

coast, occasional elsewhere.

ECONOTES: Typical in the proximity of the upland border of our

southern coastal marshes.

ROOTS: Shallow, simple, poorly developed.

STEMS: Erect, 5-50 cm high, simple or branched in the upper

portion, four-angled in cross-section.

LEAVES: Alternate, partially clasping with a pronounced midrib,

bright green-to-purplish long and narrow, 1.5-3 cm broad

and typically ten times as long, tapering gradually toward

both ends, the tip sharp-pointed.

FLOWERS: In sparingly leafy, simply branched clusters in the upper

portion of the plant, the 5 bright pink petals fused into

a funnel-shaped blossom, extending beyond the dish-shaped

calyx of 5 fused green sepals.

FRUIT: A hemispherical capsule 5-6 mm long, seeds 1-1.2 mm long.

Plantago juncoides Seaside Plantain, Goosetongue

GROWTH HABIT: An erect deep-rooted perennial herb with a basal rosette of

long narrow fleshy succulent leaves and vertical leafless

flower stalks.

HABITAT: Slightly below to just above MHW mostly in salt marshes, less

frequent on sea strands.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

Plantago juncoides

ECONOTES: Generally scattered singly or in small groups throughout

salt-marshes, often occurring in dense stands on sea strands.

ROOTS: Very deep, woody, simple or forking, covered by a thi ck

coarse brown shaggy skin.

STEMS: Leafless, supporting only the flowers, vertical, occasionally

up to 25 cm high, one-several per plant.

LEAVES: Strictly basal, in a rosette, usually shorter than the

stems, long, narrow, thick, fleshy, slightly clasping at

the base narrowing gradual to a point, usually conspicuous

longitudinal veins on the inner surface, broadly v-shaped

in cross-section, frosty green in color, very often with

reddish-purple splotches.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: Inconspicuous, arranged in a tight narrow cylindrical spike

on the upper third of the stem (individual flowers stemless),

the diagnostic characters minute and difficult to observe.

Generally the flowers and fruits are greenish-brown, appearing

as egg-shaped-to broadly conic buds.

Asteraceae The Composite Family

*CAUTION: The remainder of the indicator species in the.guide are all

members of the Asteraceae. This is the largest family of

flowering plants in the world with literally thousands of

species. As a result of this tremendous diversity the

technical distinctions between species are extremely "fine

lined". Descriptions of flowers and fruit structure es-

pecially are extremely technical.

Asteraceae Cont.

For the purposes of this guide, the descriptions are fairly

general; technical terminology is avoided in order to make

descriptions understandable. This is, however, partly at

the expense of accuracy. If doubt remains as to the identity

of a given speciman it is advisable to consult one of the

technical manuals, such as Gray's Manual, or a trained

authority.

Artemisia'stelleriana* Dusty Miller

GROWTH HABIT: A white-wooly, lacy leaved, deep-rooted perennial herb.

HABITAT: Dunes, occasionally in other types of sandy coastal habitats

well above MHW.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Dusty Miller is ideally suited for living on dunes in a

number of ways. The dense wooly hair covering the leaves

slows air movement and thereby retards moisture loss into

the air. The deeply divided leaves efficiently dissipate

heat via convection into the surrounding air. And finally,

the woody, stout, deep, extensively developed roots anchor

the plant firmly against erosion while providing moisture

for survival.

ROOTS: As described in econotes, covered by a brown shaggy skin.

STEMS: Stout, covered with white-wooly hair, spread ing but remaining

close to the substrate. The flowering stems ascending to erect.

FLOWERS: In a tight cylindrical cluster at the summit of the stem,

Artemisia stelleriana Cont.

FRUITS: Seeds slender egg-shaped, 2-3 mm long.

Aster novi-belgii* Salt Marsh Aster

*CAUTION: This species is extremely difficult to differentiate

from (not only another upland variety of the same

species, but also) a large assemblage of terrestrial

Aster species. It should probably be considered a

last resort as an indicator and not relied upon unless

absolutely necessary and then only when its identity

can be unconditionally verified by an authority.

GROWTH HABIT: A stiffly erect leafy, showy-flowered, perennial herb.

HABITAT: Just above MHW in protected salt-marshes and to a lesser

extent on saline shores.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: An extremely variable species, occurring in a range of

salinities, with an apparent preference for brackish

areas rather than full salinity, occasionally occurring

as isolated individuals but most often forming a fairly

dense belt of vegetation along the upland border of

salt marshes.

ROOTS: Slender, woody, covered by a dark gray-brown skin,

penetrating the ground at an angle.

STEMS: Stiffly erect, branching profusely in the upper third

of the plant, usually with a spongy pith.

LEAVES: Alternate, basal leaves large (to 20 cm), oblong or

Aster novi-belgii Cont.

FLOWERS: Occurring in fairly dense clusters in the upper branches

of the plant, the "petals" blue violet in heads up to

2 cm broad.

SEEDS: Shiny, flattened, light brown 2-2.5 mm long, topped by

a dense tuft of shiny, silky, short, straight hairs.

Iva frutescens Marsh Elder

GROWTH HABITAT: A large, shrubby, perennial herb.

HABITAT: Mostly above MHW in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Extremely rare if existent within the state; possibly

along the extreme southern part of the coast.

ECONOTES: Within its primary range (Va. to N.H.) the plant is

very large (up to 2 m)' and coarsely shrubby. If it

does indeed occur in Maine, it is likely to be of sub-

stantially lesser stature.

ROOTS: Deep, branched, woody.

STEMS: Typically 1/2 to 2 m high, stout, smooth or with

conspicuous longitudinal veins, often extensively

branched especially near the top.

LEAVES: Basal and lower leaves large, oval or elliptical,

4-7 cm long, fleshy, the margins coarsely toothed, the

upper leaves smaller, spearhead-shaped, also toothed.

FLOWERS/FRUITS: In elongate branched clusters of small heads, the clusters

arising from the axils of the upper leaves, the individual

heads usually drooping, 5-6 mm broad, seeds 2.5-3.2 mm long.

Solidago sempervirens* Seaside Goldenrod

GROWTH HABIT: An erect, robust, leafy, showy flowered, deep-rooted,

perennial herb.

HABITAT: Just above MHW` in salt marshes.

OCCURRENCE: Common and abundant; coastwide.

ECONOTES: Seaside Goldenrod is one of the most conspicuous widely

recognized of coastal wetland indicator species. It

occurs abundantly chiefly in mature stable marshes. The

stout stems often persist into'late autumn. New plants

are generated from the old rhizomes each spring It tends

to be most abundant on raised areas and in the proximity

of the upland borders of the marsh.

ROOTS: Very deep, stout, woody, branching, with an extensive

development of fibrous secondary roots.

STEMS: Stiffly erect, the outer layer very tough and fibrous,

the pith white and spongy, the skin usually magenta-

purplish towards the base especially late in the season,

branching only near the top into an elonga te flower cluster.

LEAVES: Alternate, thick, often fleshy, smooth, shiny, the basal

leaves up to 40 cm long, egg-shaped at the tip, gradually

tapering into a long petiole, the veins often magenta-

purple, the stem leaves much smaller (rarely 15 cm), gene-

rally the same shape but lacking a definite petiole. The

leaves on the lower portion of the plant clasping a half

to three fourths of the cir cumference of the stem.

Solidago sempervirens*

FLOWERS: Dark gold, in large, many branched, elliptical clusters,

the clusters made up of hundred of small (4-7.5 mm) hemis-

pherical heads, each head with 3-4 rows of overlapping

green spearhead shaped 'sepals'.

SEEDS: Slightly hairy, 2.5-3.5 mm long, topped by a tuft of

cream-colored silky hairs.

Xanthium echinatum* Sea-Burdock

GROWTH HABIT: A large, husky, coarse, large leaved, perennial herb.'

Very similar in appearance to the common terrestrial

burdock.

HABITAT: Well above MHW in loose sandy, gravelly, saline-brackish

substrates and dunes.

OCCURRENCE: Uncommon;,occasional along the southern range of the

coast, rarely as far north as the Penobscot River.

ECONOTES: Common south of Maine. Produces a pungent, bitter,

acrid odor when crushed.

ROOTS: Simple, or sparingly branched, shallow to very deep,

with profuse coarse root-hairs.

STEMS: Upright, thick, robust, often heavily branched. Oc-

casionally up to 1 m in height.

LEAVES: Alternate, variable, heart-shaped to egg-shaped to

maple leaf-shaped depending on the maturity and stature

of the plant, dark green often mottled with purple splotches

covered with very short stiff bristly hairs, the uneven

Xanthium echinatum* Cont.

margins with shallow rounded teeth, leaves up to 20 cm

long and about as broad.

FRUIT: A green to pale brown, olive-shaped burr, 2-3 cm long,

1-3 cm thick, covered with short silky hairs and stout

curved beaks (3-5 mm long).

'Sl

--s

maritima
Zostera marina

65',

7,V

A. Triglochin maritima
B. Acnida cannabina
C . S p e r g,7u-l @a r i -am a r i n a
D. Erio aulon Parkeri
E. Juncus gerardi
F. Loph rpus spon,,iosus

If
if

@tj /A

Ai-

A. kmophila breviligulata
B. Distichlis spicata

A. B

A. Spartina alterniflora
B. Sparti patens

lie

D
I

A. a@u@s paludosu
B. a-aritimus
C. Eleocharis ]j@h@iia-
D. Carex paleacea

St
#4

-D.
C.
B.
! oi

A. SalLcornia @@u@ae@a C. Atriplex pAtula la
Atriplex glabriuscu
@njirornia bigelorii D.

A. D.

c
i@, v

A. Sueda maritima D. Sueda linearis
B. Sueda richii E. Salsola kali
C. Sueda americana

A.
VI

V.4
B.

c D

A. Rosa rugosa
B. i@-ote@tilla anserina
C. Euphorbia polygonifolia
D. Cakile edentula
E. Lathy us japoni cus

As,*

N
41

D.
@L7
7@t x

V,:r

A . Hudsonia t
@e
nto@sa
B - @echea raa-
C. ma
Ll u t:@LCUM Scothicum
D
Samolus
E z--- --- D a r V =if 1-0 -r-u-s-
.2-lauj maritima

Limonjull nashii
O@ maritima
L
Mertensi -
m_rf-la maritima
Garardia aa--ritima

7
At

44S

-4J"

1 41

x@lyl

A. Xanthium echinatum
B. Aster novi-belgii
C. Iva frutescens
D. 'Artemisia stelleriana
E. Solidago sempervirens

GLOSSARY OF TERMS.

ACRID: Bitter acid, usually in reference to odor, sometimes to taste.

ALTERNATE: See leaf.

ANTHER: See flower.

ANNUAL: Completing the entire life cycle (see-death) in a single growing season.

ASCENDING: Growing upward from horizontal to a

nearly vertical angle.

AURICLE: A flap of'accessory leafy or papery

tissue at the top of the leaft sheath, as

in Juncus and Carex.

AWL-SHAPED: Self-descriptive.

AXIL: See leaf.

BASAL: Usually in reference to the positioning of the foliage leaves, the

major leaves being restricted to the base of the plant.

BIENNIAL: Completing the life cycle in two growing seasons.

BLADE: See leaf.

BRACT: A leaf usually of reduced size, positioned

at the base of a flower or at the base of major

branches of a flower cluster (inflorescence).

These are typically referred to as involucral

bracts or involucral leaves. The assemblage

of several of these bracts at the base of a

single flower or inflorescence is often re-

ferred to as the involucre.

CAPSULE: A type of fruit. A usually hollow, some-

what rounded structure derived from the ovary

of a flower, containing the seeds. This cap-

sule may be fleshy during the development

but later in the season it dries out and

splits a.1.ong 3-5 seams thereby releasing

the mature seeds.

CAUDEX: When the base of a stem persists over-

winter, that stem-base, occurring atop the

root or rhizome, is referred to as a Caudex.

CHAFFY: Thin, papery, brittle, usually in reference to the texture of the

involucral bracts.

CILIATE: Topped or covered by a fringe of hairs

or bristles.

CROSS-SECTION: The end view of a horizontal slice.

DIMINUTIVE: Of markedly reduced size.

DISTICHOUS: See 2-ranked.

ELLIPTICAL: Having the outline of an ellipse.

ELONGATE: Of extended length, especially as it relates to breadth.

EMERGENT: Extending up out of or beyond something.

EQUINOX TIDES: The extremely high "moon tides" experienced in spring and fall.

ERECT: Vertical.

EXCEEDING: Extending beyond. Ex. the petals

exceeding the sepals, ie. the petals sti ck

out beyond the sepals.

FLOWER: The reproductive apparatus of a plant, made up of several additional

structures in various arrangements.

Pistil St,igma
Petal tamen Style Anther
S@

Sty
rFilament
Ovary

Sepals

FUSED:. Grown together, usually in reference to

the sepals or petals. Ex. the petals, fused

into a bell-shaped blossom.

GLOBOSE: Globe-shaped, usually in reference to fruits or seeds.

INFLORESCENCE: A branched flower cluster.

INTERNODE: See nod e.

INVOLUCRAL, IVOLUCRE: See bract.

INVOLUTE: Rolled inward, in reference to leaves,

the margins of which may be in-rolled.

KEELED: Self-descriptive, with a longitudinal

ridge of tissue on the back, usually in

reference to anyone of a large variety

of floral or fruit structures.

LEAF: Self-explanatory, but with a number of variations in shape, structure

and arrangement that are represented below:

Midrib

Axil
Blade

-Sheath Margin

Petiol Simple Leaf Alternate Opposite Whorled

Toothed
V
A
tern h1orle
@Stipules 'Palmate Ternate Pinnate
@uleTo' t,

LIGULE: A small collar of waxy, leafy, or papery

tissue at the summit of the leaf sheath in

the leaf axils of all grasses and some sedges.

LONGITUDINAL: Along the length of.

MARGIN: The perimeter of a leaf. See leaf.

MEMBRANACEOUS, MEMBRANEOUS: Very thin, like wax paper or translucent plastic

wrap.

MW: Mean high water, the height of the annual average high tide.

MIDRIB: See leaf.

NODE: The hard, thickened swellings on the stems

of grasses and rushes, or the point at which

leaves occur on the stems of non-grassy plants.

The area between nodes is called the internode.

OBLIQUE: At an angle.

OBLONG: Self-descriptive, usually in reference
to the outline of a leaf. .(:D

OPPOSITE: See leaf.

OVARY: See flower, that part of a flower which develops into the fruit; the

seeds develop within the ovary.

OVOID: Oval in outline, usually in reference to leaves.

PETAL: See flower.

PETIOLE: See leaf.

PENDANT: Hanging, as in the heads of Carex paleacea.

PERIGYNIUM: A small papery sac enclosing the flowers and

fruits of the genus Carex.
PERENNIAL: Persisting year after year and producing flowers and fru*its each

season, as opposed to annual or biennial.

PINNATELY COMPOUND: See leaf.

PISTIL: See flower.

PISTILLATE: Bearing pistils. Usually referring to female flowers.

PITH: The core of a stem. The pith may be hollow as in most grasses or

solid (often filled with spongy material).

PLANOCONVEX: In reference to the cross sectional outline of a fruit. Flat

,on one side curved on the other.

PROCUMBENT, PROSTRATE: Lying flat.

RADIAL: Along the radius, or branching and spreading

out from a central point.

2-RANKED: A particular type of leaf arrangement. The leaves may be alternate

or opposite but in either case by looking down the stem vertically there

will appear to be a perfectly aligned column of leaves on each of the

opposite sides of the stem.

3-RANKED: As above but occurring only in situations where the leaves are

alternate. Looking down the stem there appear to be 3 well aligned

columns of leaves. This arrangement is frequent in the sedge family.

REPENT: Lying flat, creeping.

REVOLUTE: Rolled backward, in reference to the

margins of some leaves.

RHIZOME: An underground stem, appearing like a

root, usually with roots at the nodes.

Rhizomes are typically horizontal although

they may occur at varying depths.

ROSETTE: Usually in reference to an arrangement

of leaves to where a cluster of leaves spread
<

out from the center like spokes of a wheel.

On most plants with basal leaves, the leaves

are arranged in this fashion.

SEPALS: See flower.

SESSILE: Lacking a stem or petiole, flowers or leaves that are borne directly

on the main axis of a plant are said to be sessile. See leaf.

SHEATH: See leaf.

SIMPLE: Unbranched.

SPEARHEAD-SHAPED: Self-descriptive.

SPRAWLING: Self-descriptive.

STAMEN: See flower.

STAMINATE: Bearing stamens, usually used to describe male flowers when the

two sexes produce different types of flowers.

STIGMA: See flowers.

STIPULE: See leaf.

STOLON: A runner, ie. a horizontal stem that

runs along.the ground, often sending down

roots at intervals.

TENDRIL: A viny grasping structure that wraps

around nearby objects to support the plant.

TERNATE: See leaf,

TOOTHED: Bearing teeth, see leaf.

TRANSVERSE: Across the diameter of a structure.

TUBER: An underground root structure, ranging from

a small swelling to an almost potato-like starchy

growth.

TUBERCLE: A small hatlike structure sitting atop

the seed of some members of the sedge family.

It is usually of a different texture than the

seed.

WHORLED: See leaf.

X-SECTION: See cross-section.

INDEX TO COMMON NAMES

Alkali grass ............................. 19, 21, 22

Arrow7grass .............................. 14

Barilla plant ............................ 37

Bayonet--grass ............................ 31

Beach grass .............................. 19

Beach heath .............................. 48

Beach wormwood ........................... 58

Black-grass ........... # .................. 33

Brookweed ................................ 52

Chicken--claws ............................ 37

Ditch7grass .............................. 12

Dusty miller ............................. 58
Dwarf saltwort .................... ....... 36

Eel Grass ................................ 12

Gerardia ................................. 55

Glasswort ................................ 37

Goosefoot ................................ 34, 35

Grass-.7-wrack .............................. 12

High-water grass ......................... 24

High-water shrub ......................... 60

Marsh-,-elder .............................. 60

Marsh grass .............................. 23

Marsh rosemary ........................... 53

Old woman ................................ 58
=0

I
0 Orach .................................... 34, 35

Oyster-leaf ............................. 54

Pigeon-foot .............................. 37

Pinweed .................................. 49

Pipewort ................................ 32

Poverty grass ........................... 19, 48

Salt-marsh bulrush ...................... 30

Salt-meadow grass ....................... 24

Salt-spray rose ......................... 46

Salt-water cord grass ................... 23

Saltwort ......................... * ....... 36

Sampfire ................................ 37

Sand-reed ............................... 19

Sand-spurrey ............................ 44

Scotch lovage ........................... 50

Sea-beach sandwort ...................... 43

Sea blite ............................... 38, 41

Sea burdock ............................. 62

Sea chickweed ........................... 43

Sea lavender ............................ 53

Sea lungwort ............................ 54

Sea lyme-grass .......................... 20

Sea milkwort ............................ 51

Sea purslane ............................ 43

Sea rocket .............................. 44

Seaside goldenrod ....................... 61

Seaside plaintain ....................... 56

$edge ................................ 26-28

Silverweed ........................... 46

Spike-grass ................ * ......... 19

Strand wheat ......................... 20

Water-hemp ........................... 42

Water pimpernel ...................... 52

Widgeon grass ........................ 12

SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

3 6668 14103 1411
Gray's Manual of Botany
8th Ed. M. L. Fernald
American Book Co., NY 1950

L02hotocarpus spongiosus

Manual of Grasses of the United States
2nd Ed. A. S. Hitchcock, revised by A.'Chase
U. S. Gov't. Printing Office, Wash. 1950

Ammophila breviligulata Elymus arenarius
Distichlis spicata Spartina alterniflora

Aquatic Plants of the United States
W. C. Meunscher, Comstock'Publ. Co.
Ithaca, NY 1944

Zostera marina Salicornia europaea
Ruppia maritima Sueda linearis,
Triglochin maritima Sueda maritima
Spartina patens - '@-Iantago juncoldes
Scirpus paludosus

New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the
Northeastern United States and A@@ceE,@'Canada
F. A. Gleason, Lancaster Press, Inc.
Lancaster, PA, 1952, 3 vols.

Zostera marina Euphorbia polygonifolia
Juncus gerardi Cakile edentula
ioca@-Ion -p LathyruL japonicus
.,@rkeri
.�[email protected] alterniflora Hudsonia tomentosa
Elymus arenarius Lechea maritima
Scir2us maritimus Ligusticum scothicum
Carex paleacea Samolus parviflorus
Carex mackenziei Glaux maritima
Eleocharis halophila Limonium nashii
Acnida cannabina Mertensia maritima
Salicornia bigelovii Gerardia maritima
Atriplex patula Plantago juncoides
Atriplex glabriuscula Artemisia stelleriana
Sueda richii Aster novi-belgii
Sueda americ ana Iva frutescens
Salsola kali Solidago sempervirens
Rosa rugosa Xanthium echinatum
Potentilla anserina

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