How to select salt-tolerant plants
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Cool-season turfgrasses
| Botanical name |
Common name |
Tolerance to soil salinity |
| Agrostis palustris Seaside |
creeping bentgrass cv. Seaside |
moderately tolerant |
| Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn. |
fairway wheatgrass |
moderately tolerant |
| Agropyron smithii Rydb. |
western wheatgrass |
moderately tolerant |
| Agrostis palustris Huds. |
creeping bentgrass |
moderately sensitive |
| Agrostis tenuis Sibth. |
colonial bentgrass |
sensitive |
| Festuca arundinacea Schreb. |
tall fescue |
moderately tolerant |
| Festuca longifolia Thuill. |
hard fescue |
moderately sensitive |
| Festuca rubra L. Spp. commutata Gaud. |
chewings fescue |
moderately sensitive |
| Festuca rubra L. spp. rubra |
creeping red fescue |
moderately sensitive |
| Festuca rubra L. spp. trichophylla |
slender creeping red fescue cv. Dawson |
moderately tolerant |
| Lolium multiflorum Lam. |
annual ryegrass |
moderately sensitive |
| Lolium perenne L. |
perennial ryegrass |
moderately tolerant |
| Poa annua L. |
annual bluegrass |
sensitive |
| Poa pratensis L. |
Kentucky bluegrass |
sensitive |
| Poa trivialis L. |
rough bluegrass |
sensitive |
| Puccinellia spp. |
alkaligrass |
tolerant |
Warm-season turfgrasses
| Botanical name |
Common name |
Tolerance to soil salinity |
| Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. ex steud. |
blue grama |
moderately tolerant |
| Buchloë dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm. |
buffalograss |
moderately tolerant |
| Cynodon spp. |
Bermudagrass |
tolerant |
| Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hackel |
centipedegrass |
sensitive |
| Papsalum vaginatum Swartz. |
seashore paspalum |
tolerant |
| Paspalum notatum Fluegge |
bahiagrass |
moderately sensitive |
| Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walter) Kuntze |
St. Augustinegrass |
tolerant |
| Zoysia spp. |
Zoysiagrass |
moderately tolerant |
Key to tolerance ratings:
| Rating |
Definition |
| tolerant |
tolerates soil salinity (as indicated by ECe) in excess of 10 dS/m |
| moderately tolerant |
tolerates ECe as high as 6 to 10 dS/m |
| moderately sensitive |
tolerates ECe as high as 3 to 6 dS/m |
| sensitive |
tolerants ECe no higher than 3 dS/m |