Grass or grass-like · Poaceae
Saltgrass
Distichlis spicata
Saltgrass is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 638 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Saltgrass at a glance
- Native in
- 638 counties, across 39 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −35°F
- Mature height
- 1.1 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −35°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Saltgrass is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 638 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 638 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 2 counties
- Arizona 10 counties
- California 43 counties
- Colorado 36 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- Florida 23 counties
- Georgia 5 counties
- Idaho 16 counties
- Iowa 2 counties
- Kansas 58 counties
- Louisiana 17 counties
- Maine 5 counties
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 9 counties
- Minnesota 13 counties
- Mississippi 3 counties
- Missouri 6 counties
- Montana 17 counties
- Nebraska 38 counties
- Nevada 14 counties
- New Hampshire 2 counties
- New Jersey 8 counties
- New Mexico 24 counties
- New York 9 counties
- North Carolina 10 counties
- North Dakota 43 counties
- Oklahoma 20 counties
- Oregon 17 counties
- Pennsylvania 2 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 5 counties
- South Dakota 23 counties
- Texas 55 counties
- Utah 26 counties
- Virginia 21 counties
- Washington 27 counties
- Wisconsin 2 counties
- Wyoming 20 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.1 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 5 to 70 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 6.4 to 10
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- High
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 2 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −35°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Poaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- DISP
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Distichlis spicata (PLANTS symbol DISP).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources