Hudsonia tomentosa, usually referred to as poverty grass or beach heather, is a plant found among the dune ecosystems of Cape Cod National Seashore. Photo by Scott Buchanan. Cape Cod National Seashore harbors a diverse array of terrestrial, wetland, aquatic, and marine plants that are uniquely adapted to life in the coastal environment. More than 800 species comprise the vascular flora of the seashore, which are associated with a number of landscape features. For example, heathlands, grasslands, dunes, woodlands, forests, vernal pools, kettle ponds, salt marshes, freshwater marshes, intertidal zones, and seagrass beds are among the different community-types that can be distinguished by their own special kinds of plant life.