What does "saltgrass" mean?

American grass of species Distichlis spicata, that can tolerate alkali and salty conditions.

Saltgrass

Common synonyms include: australian salt-grass, baja grass, desert saltgrass, inland saltgrass, nipa grass, palmer's grass.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
American grass of species Distichlis spicata, that can tolerate alkali and salty conditions. countable, uncountable
"Palmer parted the towering saltgrass and pickleweed downwind of the elk."
2
Similar salt-tolerant species in the genus Distichlis. countable, uncountable
"The perennial saltgrass nipa (Distichlis palmeri, Poaceae) is endemic to northern Gulf of California tidal marshes flooded with hypersaline seawater."

"Palmer parted the towering saltgrass and pickleweed downwind of the elk."

From salt + grass.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.