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Ammophila breviligulata

Common name:	Beach Grass	Family:	Gramineae
Author:	Fernald.	Botanical references:	200, 236
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	North-eastern N. America - Newfoundland to North Carolina and on the shores of the Great Lakes.
Habitat:	Coastal sand dunes[200].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. champlainensis[P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	American Beach Grass [B], American Beachgrass [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	ammophila = sand loving ligulata = tongue like
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Cyperales. Renamed to Poaceae -- Grass family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.3m. It is hardy to zone 5. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Soil stabilization.

The extensive root system of this plant makes it useful for planting on sand dunes etc for the control of soil erosion[200].

Cultivation details

Requires a sunny position in a light well-drained soil. Very tolerant of severe maritime exposure.
The plant has a deep, strong and extensively creeping rhizome, it can become invasive when growing in suitable conditions[236].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[236] Hitchcock. A. S. Manual of the Grasses of the United States Dover Publications. New York. 1971 ISBN 0-486-22717-0
A nice and comprehensive flora, though a bit dated. Good line drawings of each plant, plus a brief idea of the habitat and a few notes on plant uses. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Ammophila+breviligulata
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Ammophila+breviligulata

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.