Ammophila arenaria

European beachgrass, European Beachgrass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

European beachgrass is a naturalized perennial found in coastal bioregions including northern California Coast, central California Coast, southern California Coast, and San Nicolas Island in coastal sand dunes at elevations below 240 meters. Flowering from May to August, this grass produces pale straw-colored flower spikes 15 to 30 centimeters long and approximately 2 centimeters wide. Growing with robust stems 50 to 120 centimeters tall, it forms dense clumps that stabilize sandy environments. Its leaves are narrow, 2 to 5 millimeters wide, with distinctive ligules 1 to 3 centimeters long that are sharply pointed at the tip. The grass produces dense cylindrical flower clusters with individual spikelets 10 to 13 millimeters long, featuring prominent callus hairs 2 to 4 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Sand dunes

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 240 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SCo, s ChI (San Nicolas Island)

California counties: Humboldt, Marin, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Ventura, Del Norte, Monterey, Mendocino, Sacramento, Contra Costa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.