''Puccinellia nutkaensis'' is a species of grass known by the common names Nootka alkaligrass and Alaska alkali grass. It is native to North America from Alaska across northern Canada to Greenland and Nova Scotia, and down to Washington to Oregon to the

Central Coast of California The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles County and south of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and includes the rugged, undeveloped ...

Description

''Puccinellia nutkaensis'' is a perennial

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...

which is quite variable in appearance, taking a petite, clumpy form or growing erect to 90 centimeters in height with robust inflorescences.Grass Manual Treatment
It sometimes roots at stem nodes that become buried in moist substrate, and forms dense stands. A species of

leafhopper A leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and a ...

, ''

Macrosteles fascifrons ''Macrosteles'' is a leafhopper genus in the tribe Macrostelini with more than 80 species, most in the northern hemisphere. Some species are known to migrate.Meade, A.B. & A.G. Peterson. 1964. Origin of populations of the six-spotted leafhopper, ...

'', is associated with this grass in Alaska, remaining on the grass even when it is submerged amid

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...

s.DeLong, D. W. (1970)
An Alaskan leafhopper that lives normally beneath icy tidal submergence.
''Ohio Journal of Science'' 70:2 111.

Habitat

It is a plant of the coastline in wet areas with rocky, sandy

saline soils Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...

. A halophyte, the grass is used for revegetation of salt marshes and other habitat in the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

in Alaska, where it is valuable for its tolerance of heavy inundation in cold saltwater during high tides and

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

s.State of Alaska Revegetation Manual

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profile
nutkaensis Bunchgrasses of North America Grasses of the United States Grasses of Canada Native grasses of California Flora of Alaska Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Pooideae-stub