Beach Dune 1 Snapshot Information and Images
You are on the second page of Lesson 5. To go to the first page, select "Lesson 5" from the maroon menu bar above.
You are on the second page of Lesson 5. To go to the first page, select "Lesson 5" from the maroon menu bar above.
Australian-Pine
Casuarina equisetifolia (caz-you-RINE-eh eck-wah-seet-ah-FOAL-ee-ah)
The first thing to say about Australian-Pine is that it is not a Pine. The tree is a flowering plant unrelated to Pines---it merely has superficial similarities, including what look like pine needles (branchlets) and fake pine cones (woody fruiting clusters). Australian-pine is a Category I invasive exotic for its ability to spread and suppress native plants and creatures. But don’t tell that to beach-goers who love the salty breezes whispering through those shady branchlets. Three species of Casuarina have escaped cultivation in Florida.
Casuarina equisetifolia (caz-you-RINE-eh eck-wah-seet-ah-FOAL-ee-ah)
The first thing to say about Australian-Pine is that it is not a Pine. The tree is a flowering plant unrelated to Pines---it merely has superficial similarities, including what look like pine needles (branchlets) and fake pine cones (woody fruiting clusters). Australian-pine is a Category I invasive exotic for its ability to spread and suppress native plants and creatures. But don’t tell that to beach-goers who love the salty breezes whispering through those shady branchlets. Three species of Casuarina have escaped cultivation in Florida.
Baybean
Canavalia rosea (can-ah-VAL-ee-ah ROSE-ee-ah)
See the Blog
Baybean is a beach and dune legume able to creep across bare sand or to climb trees and shrubs. The trifoliate leaves (having leaflets in 3's) are distinctive along with a violet pea-type flower and thick flat legume pod. Cowpea (Vigna luteola) has similar but smaller trifoliate leaves, and yellow flowers, and may appear on beaches and dunes too. Baybean has a toxic seed and dangerous drug uses, which you can explore in the blog. The seeds are among the “sea beans” collected by beachcombers.
Canavalia rosea (can-ah-VAL-ee-ah ROSE-ee-ah)
See the Blog
Baybean is a beach and dune legume able to creep across bare sand or to climb trees and shrubs. The trifoliate leaves (having leaflets in 3's) are distinctive along with a violet pea-type flower and thick flat legume pod. Cowpea (Vigna luteola) has similar but smaller trifoliate leaves, and yellow flowers, and may appear on beaches and dunes too. Baybean has a toxic seed and dangerous drug uses, which you can explore in the blog. The seeds are among the “sea beans” collected by beachcombers.
Beach Sunflower
Helianthus debilis (heel-ee-ANTH-us DEB-ah-lus)
This small sunflower is a popular native space-filler for its color and for tolerating poor droughty sterile sandy soil. The stems root where they touch the ground. You will not confuse this species with any other. The flower heads are yellow on the outside with a black center, and the leaves are fuzzy. Truly a miniature sunflower.
Helianthus debilis (heel-ee-ANTH-us DEB-ah-lus)
This small sunflower is a popular native space-filler for its color and for tolerating poor droughty sterile sandy soil. The stems root where they touch the ground. You will not confuse this species with any other. The flower heads are yellow on the outside with a black center, and the leaves are fuzzy. Truly a miniature sunflower.
Bitter Panicum
Panicum amarum (PAN-ah-come AM-ah-rum)
See the Florida Grass site
Next time you go to a beach see if you can find Bitter Panicum close to the sea oats. They are roughly the same size, although the Panicum a little smaller. They both have silver-gray foliage. Bitter Panicum has broader leaf blades. Sea Oats has its flower clusters broad, dangling, and fluttering. In Bitter Panicum, by contrast, the flower cluster is narrow and rigidly upright.
Panicum amarum (PAN-ah-come AM-ah-rum)
See the Florida Grass site
Next time you go to a beach see if you can find Bitter Panicum close to the sea oats. They are roughly the same size, although the Panicum a little smaller. They both have silver-gray foliage. Bitter Panicum has broader leaf blades. Sea Oats has its flower clusters broad, dangling, and fluttering. In Bitter Panicum, by contrast, the flower cluster is narrow and rigidly upright.
Black Mangrove
Avicennia germinans (av-ah-SENN-ee-ah GERM-ah-nanz)
Black Mangrove link: See the Blog
Red Mangrove link: See the Blog
(Also, for another nice Red Mangrove view the Gigapan)
Mangroves, as a clique of three unrelated species, are usually trees and shrubs of shallow salty wet shorelines, although Black Mangrove is broad in tolerances and grows on beaches, swales around seashore dunes, and other comparatively high dry sites. The fruits and seeds open on the tree, allowing the bare embryo to drop as the floating dispersal unit. (Thus the name “germinans.”)
Here is a guide to Black, Red, and White Mangroves:
Black Mangrove: Opposite leaves white beneath. Roots with “dead man’s fingers” snorkels rising from the marly mud. Fruit looks like a large thick coin. (Top row of photos)
White Mangrove: Opposite leaves bottom sides with domatia (blackheads a quarter inch in from the margin). Leaf tips usually notched. Leaf stalks with two pimples. The related species Buttonwood has similar domatia but along the central vein, not near the leaf margins. (Middle row of photos)
Red Mangrove: Opposite leaves with freckles beneath. Terminal bud a dunce cap. Trees with prop roots. Seeds germinate on the tree into long pencil-sized roots jutting out of small brown fruits. (Bottom four photos)
Avicennia germinans (av-ah-SENN-ee-ah GERM-ah-nanz)
Black Mangrove link: See the Blog
Red Mangrove link: See the Blog
(Also, for another nice Red Mangrove view the Gigapan)
Mangroves, as a clique of three unrelated species, are usually trees and shrubs of shallow salty wet shorelines, although Black Mangrove is broad in tolerances and grows on beaches, swales around seashore dunes, and other comparatively high dry sites. The fruits and seeds open on the tree, allowing the bare embryo to drop as the floating dispersal unit. (Thus the name “germinans.”)
Here is a guide to Black, Red, and White Mangroves:
Black Mangrove: Opposite leaves white beneath. Roots with “dead man’s fingers” snorkels rising from the marly mud. Fruit looks like a large thick coin. (Top row of photos)
White Mangrove: Opposite leaves bottom sides with domatia (blackheads a quarter inch in from the margin). Leaf tips usually notched. Leaf stalks with two pimples. The related species Buttonwood has similar domatia but along the central vein, not near the leaf margins. (Middle row of photos)
Red Mangrove: Opposite leaves with freckles beneath. Terminal bud a dunce cap. Trees with prop roots. Seeds germinate on the tree into long pencil-sized roots jutting out of small brown fruits. (Bottom four photos)
Marsh Elder
Iva imbricata (EYE-vah im-brah-CAY-tuh)
See the Blog
This is one of the most abundant local beach species, a succulent subshrub is the Aster Family forming massive clumps all along the beach near the dunes. You see it on every beach. Can’t miss it. The thick leaves are opposite and a little bit toothed. The flowers are greenish and inconspicuous.
Iva imbricata (EYE-vah im-brah-CAY-tuh)
See the Blog
This is one of the most abundant local beach species, a succulent subshrub is the Aster Family forming massive clumps all along the beach near the dunes. You see it on every beach. Can’t miss it. The thick leaves are opposite and a little bit toothed. The flowers are greenish and inconspicuous.
Purple Morning Glory
Ipomoea indica (ipe-oh-MEE-ah IN-dah-caw)
This rampant yet beautiful vine favors dunes behind the beach where it may scramble across the sand and climb into trees and shrubs. Its bright purple flowers are showy, and the leaves are heart-shaped. We have several species of Morning Glory in our area. Sorting them out is beyond the scope of the present class, but if you see one around the beach it is probably this or Railroad Vine. A similar hammock species with big white flowers is Moonvine (Ipomea alba).
Ipomoea indica (ipe-oh-MEE-ah IN-dah-caw)
This rampant yet beautiful vine favors dunes behind the beach where it may scramble across the sand and climb into trees and shrubs. Its bright purple flowers are showy, and the leaves are heart-shaped. We have several species of Morning Glory in our area. Sorting them out is beyond the scope of the present class, but if you see one around the beach it is probably this or Railroad Vine. A similar hammock species with big white flowers is Moonvine (Ipomea alba).
Railroad Vine
Ipomoea pes-caprae (ipe-oh-MEE-ah pez-CAP-ree)
Two tough broadleaf vines sprawl across the windy beach sand, Railroad Vine and Bay Bean. Railroad Vine is a purple-flowered Morning Glory having the leaf blades notched at the tips. Bay Bean differs by having its leaves trifoliate---that is, compound with leaflets in 3’s. Bay Bean flowers are pea-like, transforming into a large flat pod. A second purplish Morning Glory turns up as a climbing-twining vine on beach dunes---it is the Purple Morning Glory featured in a separate snapshot. Purple Morning Glory has heart-shaped leaves in contrast with the notched leaves of RR vine.
Ipomoea pes-caprae (ipe-oh-MEE-ah pez-CAP-ree)
Two tough broadleaf vines sprawl across the windy beach sand, Railroad Vine and Bay Bean. Railroad Vine is a purple-flowered Morning Glory having the leaf blades notched at the tips. Bay Bean differs by having its leaves trifoliate---that is, compound with leaflets in 3’s. Bay Bean flowers are pea-like, transforming into a large flat pod. A second purplish Morning Glory turns up as a climbing-twining vine on beach dunes---it is the Purple Morning Glory featured in a separate snapshot. Purple Morning Glory has heart-shaped leaves in contrast with the notched leaves of RR vine.
Sea-Grape
Coccoloba uvifera (cock-oh-LOBE-ah oov-IF-er-ah)
Sea-Grape is no grape---it merely is a tree or shrub with edible grapelike fruits. Sea-Grape is related to Pigeon-Plum and the beautiful Polygonella wildflowers. You can’t live in Florida long without encountering Sea-Grape in cultivation, or wild on beach dunes. The stiff leaves resemble a dinner plate with red veins. Look where the leaf stalk joins the stem---there is a cuff around the stem called an ocrea (OAK-ree-ah). Pigeon-Plum has the same ocrea. The dangling fruit clusters mature into “grapes” similar to the real thing with more stone than flesh, however.
Coccoloba uvifera (cock-oh-LOBE-ah oov-IF-er-ah)
Sea-Grape is no grape---it merely is a tree or shrub with edible grapelike fruits. Sea-Grape is related to Pigeon-Plum and the beautiful Polygonella wildflowers. You can’t live in Florida long without encountering Sea-Grape in cultivation, or wild on beach dunes. The stiff leaves resemble a dinner plate with red veins. Look where the leaf stalk joins the stem---there is a cuff around the stem called an ocrea (OAK-ree-ah). Pigeon-Plum has the same ocrea. The dangling fruit clusters mature into “grapes” similar to the real thing with more stone than flesh, however.
Sea Oats
Uniola paniculata (yoon-EYE-oh-lah pan-ick-you-LAY-tah)
See the Florida Grass site
In this class we don’t emphasize grasses and sedges, but some demand attention. Sea Oats are almost emblematic of our local beaches, standing four feet tall with their decorative broad flat flower clusters fluttering in the breeze. You can’t miss Sea Oats, although you might mistake them for another large seaside grass, Bitter Panicum. The Palm Beach State College tissue culture lab is growing Sea Oats from seed in an effort to help MacArthur Beach State Park with a dune restoration project.
Uniola paniculata (yoon-EYE-oh-lah pan-ick-you-LAY-tah)
See the Florida Grass site
In this class we don’t emphasize grasses and sedges, but some demand attention. Sea Oats are almost emblematic of our local beaches, standing four feet tall with their decorative broad flat flower clusters fluttering in the breeze. You can’t miss Sea Oats, although you might mistake them for another large seaside grass, Bitter Panicum. The Palm Beach State College tissue culture lab is growing Sea Oats from seed in an effort to help MacArthur Beach State Park with a dune restoration project.
Sea Rocket
Cakile lanceolata (ca-KI-le lan-seh-oh-LAH-tah)
See the Blog
Sea rocket is Cakile lanceolata. It's not called rocket because it resembles a rocket from Cape Canaveral. Rocket is an old European word for Cruciferous vegetables. It's in the Mustard Family along with cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and mustard. Sea rocket is a beach plant or is sometimes found on or behind the dunes. It’s succulent, the leaves are extremely irregular in shape. When crushed, they smell a little bit like horseradish. The white flowers have four petals and six stamens. Four of the stamens are long and two of the stamens are short. The fruit, interestingly, breaks into two parts. The lower half stays on the mother plant. The part that breaks off can float away and reestablish the plant on the beach somewhere else.
Cakile lanceolata (ca-KI-le lan-seh-oh-LAH-tah)
See the Blog
Sea rocket is Cakile lanceolata. It's not called rocket because it resembles a rocket from Cape Canaveral. Rocket is an old European word for Cruciferous vegetables. It's in the Mustard Family along with cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and mustard. Sea rocket is a beach plant or is sometimes found on or behind the dunes. It’s succulent, the leaves are extremely irregular in shape. When crushed, they smell a little bit like horseradish. The white flowers have four petals and six stamens. Four of the stamens are long and two of the stamens are short. The fruit, interestingly, breaks into two parts. The lower half stays on the mother plant. The part that breaks off can float away and reestablish the plant on the beach somewhere else.