When asked to picture a New England salt marsh, most people would likely think of large expanses of salt marsh grass, such as smooth cord grass  (Spartina alterniflora) and salt marsh hay (Spartina patens). However, at the upper edge of most marshes, where only the highest high tides reach, is a thin strip of short shrubs, dominated by marsh elder (Iva frutescens) and/or eastern baccharis (Baccharis halimifolia). In fact, due to its placement on the landscape, marsh elder is also commonly referred to as “high tide bush”. 

Marsh elder’s range extends from Nova Scotia down along the Atlantic coast and along the Gulf coast states to Texas. It is a branched woody shrub growing up to 12 feet tall, but is more often found in the 4 to 6 foot range. Its somewhat fleshy leaves are lance-shaped with toothed edges. The leaves on the lower stems are opposite, but the smaller leaves at the tips of the stems tend to grow in an alternate arrangement. This oppositely arranged leaves of the marsh elder can help differentiate it from eastern baccharis, as all of the leaves on an eastern baccharis shrub will be alternate.  

In August, marsh elder’s understated flowers bloom at the upper ends of the twigs, on spikes arising from the leaf axils. Each individual flower is approximately 1/8 of an inch wide, and is comprised of a disc flower surrounded by green bracts. Each disc has a few lighter colored male flowers around the edge of pink to brown tubular female flowers and dry, thin scales known as chaff.