page_title: Ammophila arenaria
section_title: Geographic distribution and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Ammophila arenaria / Geographic distribution and habitat
caption_attribution_description: English: European Marram Grass (Ammophila arenaria) growing on sand dunes on Oxwich Bay, Wales
context_page_description: Ammophila arenaria is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is known by the common names marram grass and European beachgrass. It is one of two species of the genus Ammophila. It is native to the coastlines of Europe and North Africa where it grows in the sands of beach dunes. It is a perennial grass forming stiff, hardy clumps of erect stems up to 1.2 metres in height. It grows from a network of thick rhizomes which give it a sturdy anchor in its sand substrate and allow it to spread upward as sand accumulates. These rhizomes can grow laterally by 2 metres in six months. One clump can produce 100 new shoots annually.
  The rhizomes tolerate submersion in sea water and can break off and float in the currents to establish the grass at new sites. The leaves are up to 1 metre long and sharply pointed. The cylindrical inflorescence is up to 30 centimetres long. It is adapted to habitat made up of shifting, accreting sand layers, as well as that composed of stabilised dunes.
caption: Sand dunes densely covered by marram grass at Oxwich Bay, Wales
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