ILLINOIS PLANT INFORMATION NETWORK
 
 ILPIN INFORMATION ON    Ammophila breviligulata
 
 
 CLASS:    MONOCOTYLEDENAE
 ORDER:    CYPERALES
 FAMILY:   POACEAE
 SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Ammophila breviligulata
 AUTHORITY:  Fern.
 
 COMMON NAMES:
    BEACH GRASS
    MARRAM GRASS
 
 SYNONOMY:
     Ammophila champlainensis Seymour
 
 PLANTS CODE: AMBR
 
 NATURAL COMMUNITIES:
     PRIMARY
       LAKE SHORE
         BEACH
       LISTED
         DOMINANT
 
 
 SAF FOREST COVER TYPE:
     NO
 
 
 NATURAL DIVISION:
     Northeastern Morainal
        Lake Michigan Dunes
        Chicago Lake Plain
 
 COUNTIES:
   COOK            LAKE
 
 GROWTH FORM:  Monocot
 
 TAXONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS:
    ROOTS:  Adventitious   (rhizomes)
    LEAF ARRANGEMENT:   Alternate
    LEAF TYPE:   Simple
    LEAF MARGIN:   Entire
    LEAF VENATION:  Parallel
    LEAF SHAPE:     Linear
    INFLORESCENCE:   Panicle
    FLOWER STRUCTURE:   Incomplete
    FLOWER PLACEMENT:  Hypogynous
    FRUIT:   Grain
 
 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC COMMENTS:
     Blades involute above, flat at the base; paniculate inflorescence contracted to
     appear spikelike; callus with a tuft of hairs.
 
 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION:
     ORIGIN:   Native
 
 GEOGRAPHIC COMMENTS:
     Probably now restricted to Lake County.
 
 POPULATION DYNAMICS:
     STATE STATUS: Endangered-ST
     FEDERAL STATUS: Not listed
     COMMONNESS:  Rare
     ENDEMIC:   NOT-ENDEMIC
 
 BIOLOGIC:
     HABIT:   Grasslike
     LIFE CYCLE:   Perennial
     REPRODUCTION:   Sexual   Vegetative
     FLOWERING PERIOD:
         MONTH BEGINNING-      7         MONTH END-      9
     TROPHIC STATUS:  Autotrophic
     C02 FIXATION:  C3
     SEX:      Perfect
 
 ECODISTRIBUTION COMMENTS:
     Important in the stabilization of sand dunes.  Often associated with
     Calamovilfa longifolia.
 
 ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS:
     GROWTH OF SPECIES IN VARIOUS CONDITIONS:
          GRAVEL         No data entered    SAND           Good
          SANDY LOAM     No data entered    LOAM           No data entered
          CLAY LOAM      No data entered    CLAY           No data entered
          DENSE CLAY     No data entered    ORGANIC SOIL   No data entered
          NEUTRAL pH     No data entered    ACIDIC SOIL    No data entered
          EXTREMELY ACID No data entered    SALINE SOIL    No data entered
          SODIC SOIL     No data entered    SODIC-SALINE   No data entered
          ROCKY OUTCROPS No data entered    GENTLE SLOPES  No data entered
          MODERATE SLOPE No data entered    STEEP SLOPES   No data entered
     HABITAT:   Moist
 
 FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS:
     MAJOR POLLINATION AGENT:   Wind
 
 HUMAN RELATIONSHIP DATA:
     ALLERGENIC:  Yes
     EDIBLE:  Yes-qualified
 
 
 HUMAN FACTOR COMMENTS:
     Probably contributes locally to hayfever.  Rootstocks and young shoots can be
     eaten in times of emergency.
 
 WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK INFORMATION:   No data entered
 
 REVEGETATION PLANTINGS:    No data entered
 
 REVEGATATION COMMENTS:
     Extensive use as sand-dune binder in New England & along the Great Lakes.
 
 
 REFERENCES:
Jones, G. N.  1963.  Flora of Illinois.  Third ed.  American Midland Naturalist
     Monograph 7.  University of Notre Dame, Indiana.  401 pp.
Gleason, H. A., and A. Cronquist.  1963.  Manual of vascular plants of north-
     eastern United States and adjacent Canada.  Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.,
     New York.  810 pp.
Swink, F., and G. S. Wilhelm.  1979.  Plants of the Chicago region.  Third ed.
     The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.  922 pp.
Mohlenbrock, R. H.  1967-continuing.  The illustrated flora of Illinois.
     Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.
Porter, C. L.  1967.  Taxonomy of flowering plants.  W. H. Freeman and
     Company, San Francisco.  472 pp.
Sheviak, C. J.  1981.  Endangered and threatened plants.  Pages 70-179 in M.
     L. Bowles, V. E. Diersing, and J. E. Ebinger, eds., Endangered and
     threatened vertebrate animals and vascular plants of Illinois.  Illinois
     Department of Conservation, Springfield.
Downton, W. J. S.  1975.  The occurrence of C4 photosynthesis among plants.
     Photosynthetica 9(1): 96-105.
Fernald, M. L., A. C. Kinsey, and R. C. Rollins.  1958.  Edible wild plants of
     eastern North America.  Harper and Brothers, New York.  452 pp.
Wodehouse, R. P.  1971.  Hayfever plants.  Hafner Publishing Company, New
     York.  280 pp.
 
 END OF DATA FOR SPECIES  Ammophila breviligulata
 
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 ILPIN was developed by Louis Iverson*, with data compiled by David Ketzner and Jeanne Karnes
 Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820
     *currently employed by USDA Forest Service, 359 Main Rd., Delaware, OH 43015