Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Herb-of-Grace - Spikerush species Thin Floating Marsh

Colloquial Name: Herb-of-Grace Thin Floating Marsh

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This is a thin floating mat of aquatic and wetland plants described from Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Louisiana. It is a type of mixed, native marsh that forms in areas that have been disturbed by extensive herbivory, air boat activity, or other intense disturbance. It is often expressed as a matrix of taller plants such as Kosteletzkya virginica and Ludwigia leptocarpa intermingled with shorter ones such as Bidens laevis, Polygonum hydropiperoides, and Thelypteris palustris. Interspersed within this taller matrix are patches of thinner floating mats characterized by Bacopa monnieri, Eleocharis olivacea, and Hydrocotyle spp. The Eleocharis forms a low, dense continuous mat, and the other marsh plants are lying on it or rising above it. Other species that may be present include Andropogon glomeratus, Cyperus spp., Lythrum lineare, Morella cerifera, Sacciolepis striata, Sagittaria lancifolia, Spartina patens, Symphyotrichum subulatum, Typha domingensis, Vigna luteola and the non-native Panicum repens. This vegetation has been observed to form extensive areas within other more uniform marsh types (e.g., dominated by Panicum hemitomon, Sagittaria lancifolia, Spartina patens, Typha domingensis, etc.). These patches are thought to result from herbivory by nutria, muskrats, deer, etc., as well as subsidence. It is found within the larger marsh matrix and on the margins of lakes and large natural bayous, rather than in heavily-traveled waterways.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Nolfo-Clements (2006) identified a thin-mat community at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve dominated or codominated by Eleocharis olivacea, Eleocharis radicans, and Eleocharis vivipara. Associated species included Hydrocotyle spp., Bacopa monnieri, Ludwigia repens, and occasionally Micranthemum umbrosum, Sagittaria latifolia, Pontederia cordata, Cyperus spp., Habenaria repens, Fuirena pumila, Juncus filipendulus, Ludwigia grandiflora, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Phyla lanceolata, Polygonum punctatum, and Schoenoplectus americanus. Occasional floating aquatic species include Salvinia minima, Lemna minor, Spirodela polyrrhiza, and Wolffiella gladiata. Her community appears to be compatible with this association (CEGL007081). More information is needed to better separate the fresh to oligohaline marshes along the coast of Louisiana into associations.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available