Close up shot of Marram Grass
Cottonwood trees, like the one pictured on the left, are seen a little later in Dunes Succession. These trees are the next things to grow on the Dunes after the Marram grass, which is still seen here, as well as many other plants, such as the Sand Piper. The Cotton wood tree is different from most trees because the above-ground, visible tree seen on the Dunes is most often just the very top of the actual tree. These trees start growing when the Dunes aren't very tall and, as they are buried, they use their underground branches as roots, and continue to grow new branches on top. The roots (which used to be branches) of the Cottonwood tree can reach as far as 50 feet into a dune. The graphic on the Succession Page shows roots at the bottom looking normal, and as you look further up, they are pointed up like branches, and that is exactly what they were for before they were covered up. This contiuing process of growing and root spreading done by the Cottonwood tree also contributes greatly to Succession and steady growth of Dunes.
On the actual West Beach Succession Trail at the National Lakeshore there is an area called the Lee Side. In this area on a sloped side of a Dune grows a plant called Little Bluestem. Although Little Bluestem does not contribute to the creation and growth of the Dunes, it does help keep the Dunes stable after they are established. Little Bluestem gets it's name from comparison to Marram Grass. Little Bluestem has a different tint of color that makes it look bluer (especially near the bottom of the plant) than the Marram Grass. The length of the blades of Little Bluestem is much shorter than that of Marram Grass. The plant is also smaller in the length of the blades as compared to Marram Grass. From a good view point, the Lee Side can easily be pointed out with the blue these plants create. |
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