Distichlis spicata  (L.) E. Greene   =Distichlis spicata ssp. spicata   Poaceae (Grass Family)   Native   Salt Grass   Coastal Salt Grass

                            April Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Low dioecious perennial with wiry culms, from creeping or deeply running rhizomes, 2-3 dm. tall, often prostrate with a strong tendency to form stolons; blades erect, 1-2 dm. long, the upper exceeding the female panicle and often equaling the male; the former green or purplish, club shaped, 1.5-5 cm. long, often 2 cm. thick, of 8-35 crowded spikelets; these 5-9 fld., about 1 cm. long, 4 mm. broad, straw-colored to purplish; lower glume 2.5 mm. long, upper 3.5 mm.; lemmas 5 mm. long faintly nerved; palea broadly winged below, with hyaline margins, serrate on the keels above; caryopsis ca. 2mm. long; staminate infl. of 6-20 spikelets, these 7-10 fld.; glumes 3 and 3.5 mm. long.

Habitat:  Coastal Salt Marsh, mainland and islands to Ore., Gulf of Mex., Atlantic Coast.  Below 1000 m.  April-July.

Name:  Greek, distichos, 2-ranked, in reference to the leaves.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 962).  Latin, spicatus, spiked.  (Jaeger 244).  The species name is probably because of the wiry culms.

General:  Very common in the study area.   Photographed on the North Star Beach, the Santa Ana Heights Flats and at Big Canyon.  (my comments).      This grass was cited by Hilgard in 1891 as the most troublesome native grass.  It does possess some value as a forage plant, and also as a sand binder.  (Robbins et al. 72).    In the interior, north of Tehachapi, salt grass, Distichlis spicata, was roasted or burned in a pit over wood coals.  The melted salt dropped to the bottom of the pit and was collected there as a cake.  (Heizer & Elsasser 108).       One of the native halophytes of upper Newport Bay as listed in The Ecology of Southern California Coastal Marshes by Joy B. Zedler. (Zedler 16).   See a complete list of the native halophytes with Spartina foliosa. (my comment).      Saltgrass enjoys a broad distribution, both ecologically and geographically.  In southern California it occurs in dunes, in middle to high marsh elevations, and is sometimes abundant in adjacent salt flats that are entirely cut off from tidal circulation.  Its success may be due its greater drought tolerance than other potential competitors.  Within the intertidal marshes, it rarely forms dense patches, but it can achieve nearly pure stands and high biomass.  (Zedler 29).        A factor that may make vascular plants less palatable for marsh grazers is high salt content.  Higher internal salt content would explain the lower carbon content for marsh plants.  In addition the salt excreting species Spartina foliosa, Monanthochloe littoralis, Distichlis spicata, Limonium californicum, and Frankenia salina are all usually coated with salt crystals, which should make them less desirable to herbivores.  In an outdoor laboratory at Mission Bay, there was more insect herbivory on cordgrass plants grown in fresh water than on plants grown in sea water.  (Zedler 51).        A moth, the wandering  skipper, Panoquina errans is closely associated with salt grass, Distichlis spicata, which provides food for its larvae.  Populations of the wandering skipper are so reduced in number that it was proposed for threatened status in 1976.  Habitat destruction is the primary cause of its declining abundance. (Zedler 66,67).       Distichlis species have been known to cause hay fever and asthma.  (Fuller 382).       Polioencephalomalacia, or cerebrocortical necrosis of the brain, occurs occasionally in cattle and sheep, commonly when animals are changed from a dry rangeland to lush young green forage.  The damage causes the sudden appearance of blindness, head pressing, muscular tremors and in coordination; eventually the condition is fatal.  Cattle on pastures that include Distichlis spicata are not subjected to such toxicity.  (Fuller 367).      The Cahuilla Indians, inhabitants of the Colorado Desert, the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains, used D. spicata var. divaricata as a source of salt.  Salt grass was also used as a cleaning agent.  The stiffness of the plant made it an excellent brushing material for cleaning implements or removing cactus thorns from objects.  (Bean and Saubel 66).      Delfina Cuero, a Kumeyaay or Southern Diegueno Indian, made the following comment about Distichlis spicata in her autobiography:  "Boil and use as a mouth rinse when mouth is sore."  (Shipek 89).      During dry, hot weather the Tubatulabal, Indians of the southern Sierra foothills and the Southern Valley Yokuts, a more coastal group both extracted salt from salt grass, Distichlis spicata, by cutting the grass that had crystals of salt attached, drying it in the sun and beating it over a bearskin.  The salt was then poured into a basket and later sifted and winnowed.  The salt was not used for cooking but a pinch might be used while eating.  (Campbell 147).     About 4 species, salt or alkali tolerant, of temperate North and South America and Sudan.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 963).

Text Ref:  Hickman, Ed. 1252; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 962; Pohl 117; Roberts 46.

Photo Ref:  Dec 1 82 # 18A; April 2 84 # 20; April-May 85 #2; June 6 83 # 17.

Identity: by R. De Ruff.

First Found: December 1982.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 42.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit. 6/9/04.

                             December Photo                                                                          June Photo