Plants for Brackish Marshes

For this year (2023) and the foreseeable future, we will not be growing Salt Marsh species such as Spartina alterniflora (Smooth Cordgrass) or Spartina patens (Saltmeadow Cordgrass).

Grasslike Species

Distichlis spicata (Saltgrass)

  • between mean high tide and spring tide

  • high salinity wet depressions that are irregularly flooded

  • tolerates full to hyper-salinity (up to 50 ppt)

Panicum amarum (Bitter Panicum)

  • above spring tide

  • tolerates full salinity (@35 ppt)

  • performs well in dry or moist sterile sands as well as fertile sites

Panicum virgatum (Switchgrass)

  • moist to dry soils

  • <5 ppt salinity

  • Needs fairly fertile soil

Flowers

Borrichia frutescens (Sea Oxeye)

  • mean high tide to upland, may extend intertidal in some locations

  • tolerates full salinity (@35 ppt)

Hibiscus moscheutos (Swamp Rose Mallow)

  • above mean high tide

  • <5 ppt salinity

Kosteletzkya virginica (Saltmarsh Mallow)

  • above mean high tide

  • <5 ppt salinity

Solidago sempervirens (Seashore Goldenrod)

  • mean high tide to upland

  • up to 25 ppt salinity

Living Shorelines, Salt WaterEllen Colodney