any of several perennial grasses of the genus Spartina; some important as coastal soil binders

Any member of the genus, Spartina; a partially submerged wetland plant common to brackish and salt marshes of the Gulf Coast.

The genus Spartina, commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, contains 14 species, native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Europe, northwest and southern Africa, the Americas and the southern Atlantic Ocean islands; one or two species also occur on the North American Pacific Ocean coast and in freshwater habitats inland in the Americas. The highest species diversity is on the east coasts of North America and South America, particularly Florida.