The local hybrid Ammophila arenaria x A. breviligulata is beginning to flower
now, in early July. First flower spikes are visible above leaves but have not
started to open. If you are on sandy beaches in this area and see a beachgrass
just starting to flower, it is probably this hybrid. Please take a photo for
iNaturalist, and label it hybrid marram grass.
The iNaturalist project page is:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/hybrid-beachgrass-mapping-in-the-pacific-northwest
<https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/hybrid-beachgrass-mapping-in-the-pacific-northwest>
All iNat observations of Ammophila and Leymus link to this page automatically.
A team of students from OSU checks plants on north Oregon and south Washington
beaches— they use this project as the public source for known and likely
locations.
European beachgrass is at the tail end of its flowering period, and American
beachgrass will begin flowering in a few weeks. The hybrid beachgrass is right
in between these species.
In an annual look this week at North Cove’s beaches (west of Tokeland at the
north end of Willapa Bay), in less than a half mile we found 7+ hybrid
beachgrass seedlings. The North Cove beach uses dynamic revetment to stabilize
a formerly fast-eroding shoreline, which process began in 2019. It’s working
very well, and the plus is thousands of beachgrass and dune grass seedlings
have appeared since 2018.
For the keen wildflower hunter, there are also yellow and pink sand-verbena
plants on this stretch of beach.
Kathleen
