Swamp Grasses
What are they?
Lumped together here are a small number of grasses which, though not all directly related to each other, nevertheless occur in similar habitats and have superficially similar, rather open flower heads.
Where are they found?
These are plants of permanently or near-permanently wet ground, in marshes, swamps and along permanent water courses.
Identification
Identification is covered under the individual species.
Rice Cut-grass Leersia oryzoides
A fairly common and widespread, broad-leaved species of wet areas, often in woodland and other shady places. Flowers June to September. Often forms lush, open stands beside boggy ruts and hollows. Flowers have distinctive, bristly hairs along the margins.
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Annual Wild-rice Zizania aquatica
(Wild Rice) Not the rice of cultivation but closely related to it and once used as a substitute rice. Common and quite widespread in open swamps along main waterways, especially close to the tidal limit. Flowers July to September. Can form extensive stands; a tall grass which often stands head and shoulders above surrounding vegetation. Has a very distinctive flower spike, with the female flowers borne in a narrow tuft at the top and the male flowers on spreading branchlets lower down.
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Blunt Manna-grass Glyceria obtusa
(Atlantic Manna-grass) Wet fields and swamps. Flowers July to September. Flower spikes more compact than other manna-grasses.
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Nerved Manna-grass Glyceria striata
(Fowl Manna-grass) Wet fields and swamps, usually in open areas but occasionally also in woodland. Flowers May to June. A small, rather open grass compared to other swamp grasses and best told from other manna-grasses by the raised veins on the flowers. The stem is slightly flattened, giving a rounded edge on two sides.
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Floating Manna-grass Glyceria septentrionalis
Local in wet, swampy ground and often growing semi-aquatically in shallow water. Flowers May to July. Both the flower spike and the spikelets are long and slender; the flower spike often has one or two rather long side branches at the base.
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Pale False Manna-grass Torreyochloa pallida
Local in wet, swampy ground and often growing semi-aquatically in shallow water. Flowers May to June.
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Northern Sweet-grass Anthoxanthum hirtum
Wet fields and swamps, especially at the freshwater margins of coastal marshes. Flowers April to June. Usually found growing in open colonies of feathery, golden-toned flowerheads.
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Wood Reed-grass Cinna arundinacea
A tall and graceful species of wet woodland. Flowers August to September. One distinctive feature of this species can be found in the leaves, which are twisted by 90 degrees at the base.
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Nuttall's Reed-grass Calamagrostis coarctata
Wet fields and swamps, usually in open areas. Flowers June to September. The rather narrow, upright flowerhead is crammed with many, very small, awnless flower spikelets. Listed in most flower books under an older scientific name of Calamagrostis cinnoides.
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Blue-joint Reed-grass Calamagrostis canadensis
Not uncommon in marshes and other open, swampy areas. Flowers June to July. Forms spreading patches of blue-green vegetation which are quite distinctive.
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Swamp Wedgescale Sphenopholis pensylvanica
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Blue Maidencane Amphicarpum amphicarpon
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Bearded Sprangletop Diplachne fascicularis
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New Jersey Hair-grass Muhlenbergia torreyana
A widespread but local grass, favoring seasonally wet hollows where it can often form large, dense stands of vegetation. Flowers September to October. Probably most easily identified by its strongly flattened stems and leaves which are folded in two for most of their length.
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Bog Hair-grass Muhlenbergia uniflora
A pine barren species that occurs in a few boggy locations in the north of the county. Flowers August to October. A small, delicate species that is easily overlooked among large stands of bog sedges and grasses.
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Wrinkled Joint-grass Coelorachis rugosa
A south-eastern grass of wet meadows and marshes which still can be found at its only New Jersey site at Cold Spring. Flowers August to October. An extremely rare grass locally but should be looked for elsewhere in suitable habitat. The whole plant often turns reddish as the fruits develop, making it more obvious later in the year.
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