Plant of the Week

Prairie cord grass
Spartina pectinata Link
other common names: cord grass, freshwater cord grass, marsh grass, slough grass, tall marsh grass, rip gut
Spartina: from Greek spartine, a cord such as that made from the bark of Spartinum. This was probably from the strong, tough leaves.
Pectinata: from Latin, meaning “comblike,” from the toothed edge of the leaf blades
Grass family: Poaceae (Gramineae)

Photograph by Thomas Rosburg, Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition