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Cord grass (in floret, occurs around the month of August)
Spartina alterna flora
Where it was photographed - Tidal marshes of Sedge Islands
Cord grass does not typically reproduce by seed in the Barnegat Bay
estuary because of the unique estuarine environment, however it does
spread by rhizomes (root systems). In the lower
areas of tidal influence (the areas that get flooded the most and areas
closer to the inlet) it is the only vascular plant that
survives. The beautiful green fields of the salt marsh are
made up of only a handful of species of grasses that were able to adapt
to the harsh environment of the bay. The most prevalent of
these grasses is Cord Grass. It is the primary element of the
detrital food chain.
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