Spartina patens (otherwise known as Spartina P, or Salt-meadow Cordgrass) is a plant that sometimes grows in salt marshes. This perennial plant grows from 12-18 inches (30-45 centimeters). Early colonists harvested it for salt marsh hay.Its purple flowers have a strange growth. They only grow on one side of the plant. And the plant itself grows along the ground in a cow-licked way.

Most plants cannot stand salt water. Salt-meadow Cordgrass can. When the water comes up, and special membrane on its roots that only sucks up the water. Glands on the leaves spit the salt out. But even with these adaptions, the plant grows bigger with fresh water.

This grass gets completely covered with salt water only during really high tides, about once every two weeks.

The seeds of the spartinas (the others are alternaflora, pectinata, and cynosuroides) are important. They are the main food for many birds, including black ducks and sharp-tailed sparrows. Salt-meadow Cordgrass grows from June to October.

Spartina alternaflora (known as Salt-water Cordgrass or Spartina A) has a powerful root system just like Phragmites. Its roots spread beneath the ground and grows to trap silt forming in the salt marsh. This plant gets its nutrition by the endless tides rolling in and out of the marsh which floods Salt-water Cordgrass. It grows on the outer rim of salt marsh bogs, because it needs to be covered with salt water twice a day.

Salicornia europaea (other wise known as Glasswort / Saltwort.) Is a cactus-like plant that lives by salt marshes, It is a leafless and smooth annual. It is found from six to eighteen inches tall. In the fall it is bright red, and people find it very pretty. People also sometimes add it to fresh salad because it's extremely salty. You might want to try it sometime.

The kinds of Blackgrass are Juncus Tenuis, Juncas Gerardi, and Juncus Roemerianus. Blackgrass is not usually a dominant plant of the salt marsh, but in the south the kind called Juncus Roemerianus is. Juncus Roemerianus is a lot taller than Juncas Gerardi, and Juncus Roemerianus has sharp, rounded leaves. It always grows in the salt marsh, and from a distance patches of it look brown.

The sepals (the part of the plant covering the fruit) and the petals on Juncus Tenuis are a bit taller than the capsule of the fruit, making the fruit look bristly.

Solidago Sempervirens (known as Seaside Goldenrod) is a common salt marsh species often found on the border of salt marshes. This smooth-stemmed planted is in the sunflower family and is 1-3 feet tall. It has yellow flowers, and a tint of purple-red, because of it's purplish pigment. The leaves, not jagged. The flowers grow on its branch-like stems.

The lovely pink blossoms of a Gerardia can be found from mid-July to September amongst such plants as the sea lavender, the arrow grass and the seaside plantain. The fruit found among this plant's narrow leaves look almost like a miniature acorn. Gerardia is related to the golden snap dragon and grows to be no larger than 8 in. tall.

Spikegrass is a common enough plant to be found, sprinkled in various areas of salt marsh. Spikegrass may also be found in a sturdy line by the water. It has long pale green stems which are how Spikegrass got it's name. Spikegrass, unlike a lot of other salt marsh plants, can with-stand the salt which comes in through the tides. This plant is eaten by the geese living in the midst of the marsh.

Groundsel Tree is a shrub living in the outskirts of the salt marsh. A Groundsel Tree is related to the sunflower and grows to be 3 to 6 f.t. tall. The leaves of a Groundsel Tree are in assortment clustered on the stem and look somewhat like tiny spades. The edges of these leaves are slightly jagged.

In the summer, Bayberry up until then was green and bare. But, as the seasons change, in the summer, at the tips of the stems where two stems separate, the green berries begin tot take form. By late summer, they have turns a rich blue and has a very fragrant smell. Bayberry is quite often used for candles because of the wonderful scent it gives off and sometimes, insects like the praying mantis nest in its leaves.

Phragmites is a fern-like plant living at the outskirts of salt marshes and other moist areas. This rapidly spreading vegetation, with its powerful roots, chokes out all the other plants and takes over. So this plant, with its bright violet flowers and gray fruits, is very common. This plant also had and still has many uses, for instance, phragmites was once used as a pen, as was a feather at the time.

Marsh Elder is a bush that grows on the border of high water in the salt marsh. It can be as short as three feet, or as tall as five feet, or, of course, in between. The leaves on the plant grow opposite to each other, and their texture is fleshy and sharp-toothed. Its flowers, which grow in the summer, and greenish-white.

Sea Lavender blooms in August with a beautiful purple blossom. They're on the endangered species list. They live in the mud, and when people try to pick it the roots come out. It is one of the nicest plants that live on marshlands. It has small cone-shaped flowers, and it is pale purple. They can grow up to one foot or more.

This vine-like plant with wedge-shaped leaves can be found in the less saline marshes or scattered about saltmeadow cordgrass on the high marsh. We found it right on the border between saltmarsh grasses and phragmites.

We found this nasty patch on the way out of the salt marsh! The leaves are shiny and green for most of the summer. They only turn reddish in the fall. Even the hairy root of this plant can be poisonous to the touch. If you find yourself in it by accident, a strong laundry soap can wash off the oils that blister your skin.

This native plant likes wet places.