Barrier Beach Botany
Plants of the sandy beaches
The plants that grow on cape cod beaches are easy and fun to identify. The diversity is low with the dominant species being dune grass or beach grass Ammophila. The long continuous subterranean root system is called a rhizome, like an entangled string of Christmas lights where each is a shoot of grass growing up to form the dunes. As sand grains blow against the stems of the grass, they pile up to form new dunes. Grass stems and dunes grow together. Other species of beach plants are dispersed throughout the dunes. Use this page and you should be able to go right through the list with careful observation.
