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Spartina townsendii
Also called Many-spiked cord-grass, Townsend's cord-grass, Townsend's Cordgrass
Townsend's cordgrass is a hybrid grass native to western Europe, formed from two cord-grass species, and it is a coastal salt-marsh plant rather than a garden plant. It is grown mainly for coastal erosion control and is a notorious invasive weed where it has spread.
Sporobolus × townsendii, synonyms including Spartina × townsendii, known as Townsend's cordgrass, is a hybrid species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is native to Western Europe.
After its discovery in southern England, it was reported that it had spread very rapidly, until by 1907 "many thousands of acres" along the English south coast were covered with it, and it had crossed the English Channel and spread along the French coast. It had also been planted in the Netherlands because of its ability to prevent coastal erosion. As of March 2026, it has been introduced elsewhere western Europe (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, and Spain) as well as in northwestern America (British Columbia and Washington), Australia (South Australia and Victoria), and New Zealand.
Cumberland sandreed · Giant sandreed · Sporobolus schoenoides · Modest prickle grass · Pricklegrass · Swamp Canegrass · Sporobolus cynosuroides · Sporobolus pumilus · Sporobolus michauxianus · Sporobolus spartinae · Cordgrass · Sharp Leaved Grass
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sporobolus × townsendii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
