Smooth Cordgrass

Spartina alterniflora

native · Central Texas

Smooth Cordgrass is a grass native to Central Texas that grows 3–5 ft tall and 3 ft wide. It wants full sun and high water, and handles clay soil. Blooms yellow in late spring. Evergreen — it holds its leaves through winter. Good for birds.

Wet ground only. A wetland plant: it needs standing water or saturated soil — a pond edge, creek bank or rain garden, not a dry upland bed.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Smooth Cordgrass against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

The facts

5 sources

Type: Grass
Sun: Full sun (6–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water: High
Height: 3–5 ft
Spread: 3 ft
Bloom: Late Spring · yellow
Foliage: Evergreen
Soil: Takes clay · recorded on brackish, clay, loam, moist, poor drainage, saline, sand
Wildlife: Supports birds

Where it grows

Recorded in this EPA Level IV ecoregion in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Floodplains and Low Terraces

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.