Spartina alterniflora (Smooth Cordgrass; Salt Marsh Cordgrass) is a warm-season grass, growing in estuarine and marine tidal wetlands.[Note: This grass has recently been moved by some taxonomists to the genus Sporobolus, becoming Sporobolus alterniflorus. We will follow Bortolus (and 37 authors 2017), in using the more widely used genus name Spartina] .In warmer climates, the plants can grow to a height of 2500 mm, but northern plants are usually 1000 mm or less. The leaves are flat and range from 308 mm to 760 mm, with a tip coiled inward. Near the end of the summer, plants produce spikes about 300-400 mm long, bearing a single row of spikelets. However, the chief means of reproduction is vegetative, through spreading rrhizomes. which colonize bare sand or mud, forming clumps and meadows, The plants tend to grow along shorelines, ranging from the lower to mid-tidal zone. It's roots are adapted to low oxygen levels. Spartina alterniflora tolerates salinities from 0 to 115 PSU, but tends to be outcompeted in low-salinity areas. Spartina alterniflora is native to the coast of the Northwest Atlantic, from Newfoundland to Florida and Texas. It has been introduced to Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, the Caribbean and southern South Ameruca, Europe from Britain to Spain, China, Australia, and New Zealand. In its native region, it is important for sediment and shoreline stability, wildlife habitat and food, However, in introduced habitats, it converts mudflats to marshes, interfering with burrowing animals, predatory birds and fishes, altering waterflow, and affecting shellfish harvests. Control programs are underway in California, Washington. China, and elsewhere. The introductions of at least 3 species to the West Coast have been assocated with Spartina alternflora; the parasitic fungus Claviceps purpura var. spartinae; the Spartina Leafhopper Prokelisia marginata, and the Spartina Bug Trigonotylus uhleri. All three of these parasites/herbivores have been studied and introduced locally in West Coast estuaries for biocontrol of S. alterniflora, with mixed results,