Beachgrass is the first plant species to appear on the sandspit. Bare sand is a sterile medium: its chemical structure is such that the positively charged (cation) plant nutrients have no negatively charged materials to bond them into the plant-soil system. The sand found in the Provincelands is a quartz sand, a derivative of the granite rocks of New England. Its atomic structure, SiO2 (silicon dioxide), has an extremely strong bond and is extremely resistant to both chemical and physical weathering.

Beachgrass is able to thrive in the barren sand because it receives its nutrition from salt spray, by osmosis through the surface of its leaves. Again, turbulence plays a part. Wind flowing over the surface of the ocean moves relatively smoothly until it reaches a speed of 5.5 to 7.5 meters per second. At this speed, the wind flow starts to become turbulent causing the development of foam and whitecaps. These little bubbles burst, sending salt spray droplets into the air which are carried by the wind onshore onto the leaves of the beachgrass. This enables it to thrive in an environment inhospitable to other plant species.   Peter@PeterRomanelli.com  508-487-4570