June 21, 1984 - On Beach FlowersPage 20
The' Suf f olk'Times June 21;1984°'
On Beach Flowers
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
Flowers and beaches just don't seem
to go together yet whether it's along our
sparkling ocean beaches or along our
quiet inner bays; flowers are neverthe-
less a part of the upper beach. There in
the hostile environment of wind, sun and
glaring hot sand, we find the flowers are
usually not as large and gaudy as their
inland cousins but are there nonetheless.
A typical example would be the minia-
ture flower of the sea rocket. This
succulent - leafed plant is the first plant
found abutting the turbulent sea. Here,
under the most difficult conditions, sea
rocket flowers. Often I've picked its thick
leaves and bitten into their mustardy
flesh. It's a plant with a tiny purple -
lish- colored flower almost unnoticed by
the casual eye. Many pick the leaves and
toss them amongst their favorite greens
in a salad, for it adds that special salty
tantalizing taste to make a perfect salad.
Further up the beach among the
scorching sands can be found dusty
miller, a velvety pale green plant with
inconspicuous yellow flowers. It is
basically related to the same dusty
miller that you buy at your local garden
center for planting around your home, but
here it grows in a much more torrid
world and does surprisingly well.
There, plants we find along our beaches
where the sands dry out under the
blistering summer sun, have adapted
especially well to this environment. Long
tap roots that eke out the moisture from
far below the surface is their main
protectorate. Secondly, their leaf
structure that enables them to withstamd
the windblown sand, and their ability to
resist drying out, keep them healthy
looking no matter how hot it gets.
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In the more protected areas of the
beach and dune line we find the low
sprawling beach pea with its purplish
flowers that, when examined closely, tell
you it is a member of the pea family. To
add to this likeness, after flowering the
familiar pea pod is formed. Of course,
it's much much smaller than the ones we
pick from our gardens but nevertheless
there are peas in the pod, and tasty ones
at that.
The familiar salt spray rose, rosa
rugosa, is a vigorous bushy plant that.
like the dusty miller, comes to our shores
from afar. It's not a native but loves our
beaches and is probobly one of the better
beach plantings offered by our nurseries.
Besides the usual pink flower we
associate with this seaside rose, there is
also a white variety. Both yield a
vitamin -rich rose hip later in the season
after the flowers have matured that is
high in vitamin C; those who know it
collect them and make jellies and jams.
My wife has a specialty where she blends
rose hips with marmalade. It adds
delightful color and taste.
Here on the East End in selected places
we find the horned poppy along our
shores. This, too, is an immigrant plant
from afar, and like most of the others, is
a welcome addition to the seaside land-
scape. It has a large yellow flower that
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
BEACH PEA - -This low crawling vine found on the upper beach is
blooming now with a lovely pea -like purple flower. Later it will form the
familiar pea pod with small edible peas. °
later produces a very long-seed pod
giving it its name.
Another large yellow flowering plant
we see blooming in the upland beach area
and even occasionally inland in sandy
dry areas is our native prickly pear. This
true cactus, along with the horned poppy,
is blooming right now and its waxy
yellow flower at least three inches in
diameter is extremely handsome. Its red
seed pods can later be picked (very
carefully) and made into a delightful
refreshing drink. The state park in Orient
is one of the best places to see both of
these interesting plants growing and
blossoming almost alongside each other.
Treasures of the Beach
In all, our beaches hold many outdoor
treasures not only along the water's edge
where a wide variety of shells lure the
inquisitive, but also the upper beaches
where numerous varieties of plants
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grow, each with its own interesting
characteristics and flowers. Our problem
comes when bulkheads are put in,
eliminating the upper beach and therefore
making our beaches narrower. In some
places there are no beaches at all. I can
understand the problem of erosion and
the modern bulkhead solution but I also
wonder if we would be as bad off as some
envision if no bulkheads had been built.
Erosion is a natural phenomenon and
the sand of our beaches will always be
moving, taking away here and building
there. An untampered beach has now
become' difficult to find, and whenever
anything becomes scarce, it is natural to
seek it out and cherish it. Let's hope that
there will always be some of these
natural beaches left so we can enjoy the
open splendor of wind, sand, water and
the flowers of the beach.
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