DACF Home → Bureaus & Programs → Maine Natural Areas Program → Communities, Plants, and Animals → Rare Plants → Iva frutescens
Iva frutescens L.
Marsh-elder
- State Rank: S1
- Global Rank: G5T5
- State Status: Endangered
Habitat: Coastal marshes or borders near high tide line. [Rocky coastal (non-forested, upland)]
Range: Along the coast, Virginia to southern New Hampshire, Maine, and western Nova Scotia.
Aids to Identification: Shrubby perennial herb 0.6-1.2 m tall, with thickish, opposite leaves and small greenish-white capitula, each with 5-6 minute tubular-shaped flowers. Each clump consists of from 10 to 100 or more stems from a single woody base.
Ecological characteristics: Occurs near the high tide line in a few small, scattered populations.
Phenology: Flowers August to October.
Family: Asteraceae
Synonyms: Iva frutescens L. ssp. oraria (Bartlett) R.C. Jackson; Iva frutescens L. var. oraria (Bartlett) Fern. & Grisc.
Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has been documented from a total of 3 town(s) in the following county(ies): Cumberland, Lincoln, Sagadahoc.
Reason(s) for rarity: Northern limit of range.
Conservation considerations: Shore erosion or trampling has eliminated some populations of this plant.