Annual, 1-5 dm, erect or the lower branches prostrate; scales below the spike obtuse or rounded; spikes erect or ascending, 2-6 נ1.5-3(-4.5) mm, the joints mostly 2-4 mm; fls broadly obovate, the central one much surpassing the lateral ones but reaching only to 0.5-1 mm below the node above; seeds 1.3-2 mm; 2n=18, 36. The commonest sp. of salt marshes; Que. to Fla., and in saline soil inland to Mich.; also Alas. to Calif., W.I., and widespread in the Old World. (S. herbacea; S. prostrata)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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