categoryZGrasses Grasses List 

SEA ARROW-GRASS

Triglochin maritima

(Formerly: Triglochin Maritimum)
Arrow-grass Family [Juncaginaceae]  

month8may month8jun month8june month8jul month8july month8aug

category
category8Grasses		 status
statusZnative
flower
flower8green		 morph
morph8actino		 petals
petalsZ3		 type
typeZspiked		 stem
stem8round

5th Aug 2009, Marshes, Lytham St Annes, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
A typical clump. The leaves are grass-like but furrowed.


23rd May 2008, Salt-marshes, Shell Island, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
A typical tuft, looking like Sea Plantain (but that can have cream-coloured anthers sticking out around [some part] of the flowering spike).
5th Aug 2009, Marshes, Lytham St Annes, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The flowers are in long spikes, but with a longer spike than those of Marsh Arrow-grass.



23rd May 2008, Salt-marshes, Shell Island, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
The flowers are green and have three petals plus three sepals


5th Aug 2009, Marshes, Lytham St Annes, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Stems furrowed. Long spike of flowers, only top one-third shown.


5th Aug 2009, Marshes, Lytham St Annes, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The flowers have three red-tinged green sepals (here some are curled out well below the flower) and three petals also green tinged-red. The central green 'barrel' will eventually contain the seeds.

Easily confused with : Marsh Arrow-grass, but that likes marshes rather than the salty sea water in salt-marshes. The flowers in Marsh Arrow-grass are green but edged purple and in a shorter spike than Sea Arrow-grass.

No relation to : Arrowhead [a plant with similar name]

Some similarities to : Sea Plantain which grows in similar places on sandy shores, but has a shorter flowering spike that has cream coloured anthers surrounding (at least part of) the flowering stalk.

Not a grass.

A CYANOGENIC GLYCOSIDE

It contains the toxic cyanogenic glycoside Taxiphyllin, which is similar to Lotaustralin which is found in Common Bird's-foot-Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and other Lotus genera plants, but with a methyl group replaced by a hydrogen atom and and extra para-phenol moiety replacing another methyl group.

  Triglochin maritima  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Juncaginaceae  

Distribution
family8Arrow-grass family8Juncaginaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Triglochin
Triglochin
(Arrowgrasses)

SEA ARROW-GRASS

Triglochin maritima

(Formerly: Triglochin Maritimum)
Arrow-grass Family [Juncaginaceae]  

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