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Sea oats usually is the most conspicuous plant growing on the sand dunes behind wave-washed beaches along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. It grows from underground stems (called rhizomes) in elongate colonies where the winds shift and swirl the sand. The leaves are up to 2 ft (0.6 m) long and 1 in (2.5 cm) wide. In summertime the 6 ft (1.8 m) above-ground stems (called culms) terminate in gracefully drooping 18 in (45.7 cm) clusters (called panicles) of flat, yellowish, 1.5 in (3.8 cm) long seedheads called spikelets (those botanists have to have a technical name for everything!)
Location
Culture
Sea oats is a handsome ornamental grass, at its best in cultivated beds placed where its nodding seedheads can draw attention. Sea oats is tolerant of salt spray and saline soils. However it tends to be invasive, spreading by rhizomes, but is easy to cut back and well worth the effort. To keep any rhizotomous plant from spreading, dig a trench around the plant, out a foot or so from the roots, and install a plastic barrier that the rhizomes can't grow through, then fill the trench back in.
Extremely salt tolerant, sea oats is often used in dune stabilization programs because its extensive system of underground stems and roots helps reduce erosion. The dried and cooked seeds are said to make a flavorful cereal. The mature seedheads are very decorative and commonly used in dried floral arrangements.
Steve Christman 09/07/99; updated 12/6/99, 07/20/02, 1/14/04
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