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Ammophila
Also called Reedgrass, Reed Grass, Small Reeds, Reed And Wavy Hair Grasses, Reedgrasses, Beachgrasses, Marram Grasses
Ammophila is a genus of two or three very similar coastal grasses, best known as marram or beachgrass, which grow on sand dunes. Grow them in open, sandy, sunny coastal conditions and let them spread by underground rhizomes to hold sand.
Ammophila (synonymous with Psamma P. Beauv.) is a genus of flowering plants consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses. The genus name Ammophila originates from the Greek words ἄμμος (ámmos), meaning "sand", and φίλος (philos), meaning "friend". The common names for the grasses include marram grass, bent grass, and beachgrass. The grasses are found almost exclusively on the first line of coastal dunes. Their extensive system of creeping underground stems or rhizomes allows them to thrive under conditions of shifting sands and high winds, and helps stabilize the dunes and prevent coastal erosion.
Ammophila species are native to the coasts of the North Atlantic Ocean where they are usually the dominant species on dunes. Their native range includes few inland regions, with the Great Lakes of North America being the main exception.
In Europe, Ammophila arenaria has a coastal distribution and is the dominant species on dunes where it is responsible for stabilizing and building the foredune by capturing blown sand and binding it together with the warp and weft of its tough, fibrous rhizome system. Marram grass is strongly associated with two coastal plant community types in the British National Vegetation Classification. In community SD6 (Mobile Dune) Ammophila is the dominant species. In the semi-fixed dunes (community SD7), where the quantity of blown sand is declining Ammophila becomes less competitive, and other species, notably Festuca rubra (red fescue) become prominent.
The ability of marram grass to grow on and bind sand makes it a useful plant in the stabilization of coastal dunes and artificial defences on sandy coasts. That usefulness was recognized in the late 18th century. On the North Sea coast of Jutland, Denmark, marram grass was traditionally used for fuel, thatch, and cattle fodder after frost. Those uses led to sand drift and loss of arable land. Hence, legislation promoting dune stabilization came into force in 1779 and 1792, successively leading to a system of state-supported dune planters overlooked by dune bailiffs. Marram grass was – and still is – propagated by root and shoot cuttings dug up locally and planted into the naked sand in periods of relatively calm and moist weather.
European beachgrass · Feather reed grass · Wood Small Reed · Leafy reedgrass · Pacific reedgrass · Purple reedgrass
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ammophila (plant) by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
