Leaf blades of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) die in succession from bases toward tips of shoots as the shoot grows upward, and are not abscised, so they decay as standing-dead material. The blades that are currently senescing usually exhibit yellow stripes, rather than turning yellow all at once (see image below). The yellow-green stage is a short one (blades quickly pass on to the brown, standing-decaying stage), so there is usually only one yellow-striped blade per shoot (if any). Eventually blades are weakened by fungal lignocellulolytic activity and invertebrate shredding, and they bend down to the sediment, or fragment to particles that fall to the sediment.