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.
Description Puccinellia nutkaensis is a perennial bunchgrass 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, Macrosteles fascifrons, is associated with this grass in Alaska, remaining on the grass even when it is submerged amid icebergs.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. A halophyte, the grass is used for revegetation of salt marshes and other habitat in the intertidal zone in Alaska, where it is valuable for its tolerance of heavy inundation in cold saltwater during high tides and storm surges.State of Alaska Revegetation Manual
References
External links Jepson Manual Treatment USDA Plants Profile