- Sea purslane as pioneer on sand dunes., Ecomare
Beach flora
The beach is much too dynamic for plant life. Hardly any plants are found growing here. Even the toughest species such as sand couch and sea purslane can only manage for a short time. Sea rocket and prickly saltwort will grow very sparsely on the beach. The young plants need (fresh) rainwater in order to germinate and some kind of flood mark. However, autumn storms usually end their short existence. These pioneer plants will only survive on broad beaches. Nevertheless without these plants, how few they may be, coastal dunes will not form.
- Pioneers
- Beach flora, Foto Fitis, www.fotofitis.nl
The North Sea countries owe their coastal dunes to the beach flora. The leaves of the pioneers catch wind-blown sand, which remains lying in the shelter of the plant. Slowly but surely, a small dune takes shape. The process begins with sand couch. When the young dune reaches a height of 1 meter, a freshwater bell forms under the surface, making it possible for dune plants to germinate. Most of the plants that grow on the beach also grow on or in the vicinity of these young dunes.
beach flora Prickly saltwort
Sand couchSea rocket
Sea sandwortSea spurge
Yellow horned-poppy
