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Montana Field Guide

Montana Field Guides

Ditch-grass - Ruppia maritima
Other Names:  Ruppia cirrhosa, Ruppia spiralis

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: SNR
C-value: 8


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

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General Description
Submersed, aquatic, rhizomatous, perennial herb. Stems filiform, branched, terete, 6–50 cm. Leaves alternate, filiform, 3–20 cm long, attached at the base to a membranous, sheathing stipule 5–20 mm long with or without a lamina to 3 cm long. Inflorescence axillary umbels of few to several 2-flowered spikes; peduncles to 30 cm long and coiled in fruit. Flowers perfect, regular; perianth absent; stamens 2; pistils 4 to 6, ovaries superior. Fruit ovoid, drupe-like, 2–3 mm long, beaked, 1-seeded, borne on a pedicel (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Range Comments
Cosmopolitan (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 486

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Shallow, saline or alkaline water of ponds, sloughs, lakes; plains, valleys, montane (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
    • Rasmussen, S.M. 1968. Composition and structure of macrophyte vegetation of the Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park as related to physical and chemical factors. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 44 p.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "Ditch-grass"
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Citation for data on this website:
Ditch-grass — Ruppia maritima.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from