DACF Home → Bureaus & Programs → Maine Natural Areas Program → Communities, Plants, and Animals → Rare Plants → Glyceria acutiflora
Glyceria acutiflora Torr.
Sharp-scaled Manna-grass
- State Rank: S1
- Global Rank: G5
- State Status: Endangered
Habitat: Shallow water or very wet soil. [Open wetland, not coastal nor rivershore (non-forested, wetland)]
Range: Maine to Delaware, Virginia, and Tennessee, west to Michigan and Missouri.
Aids to Identification: The stems of this manna-grass grow to a height of 1 meter, often with a curved or prostrate base. The leaf sheaths are fused at their edges - a feature of only a few manna grasses. The flowering clusters are 20-30 cm long, with erect branches. Spikelets are 2-4 cm long with 5-12 flowers, and the lemmas are rough and sharp-pointed.
Ecological characteristics: Very little is known about the ecological characteristics of this species in Maine
Phenology: Fruits June - July.
Family: Poaceae
Synonyms: Panicularia acutiflora (Torr.) Kuntze.
Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has been documented from a total of 1 town(s) in the following county(ies): York.
Reason(s) for rarity: At northern limit of range.
Conservation considerations: This plant is restricted statewide to southern Maine, and populations are vulnerable to conversion of their habitat to residential or commercial use.