It is native to much of North America, including central and eastern Canada and most of the contiguous United States except for the southwestern and southeastern regions.

[3] This species of grass has hard, sturdy, hollow stems that may reach 3 m (9.8 ft) in height.

This outstanding debate has created several papers defending precedence of Spartina as a taxon over Sporobolus as a distinctly subjective name change.

These include fens, wet prairies, rivers, floodplains, ponds, moraines, and marshes.

Its dense root network stabilizes soil, even in areas where it would be eroded by flowing water.