Sea Oats
One of the most conspicuous plants seen waving in the sea breezes on the windward side of a barrier island is a tall, usually tan-colored, plant called sea oats, which is specially adapted to survive the salt spray of an open beach front. With a seed head vaguely reminiscent of its more familiar distant grass cousin, wheat, sea oats plants are one of the dune builders on the inland side of a beach. At the plant's base is a swirl of long slender leaves intertwined like steel wool. As onshore winds blow across the beach surface, they pick up sand and organic nutrients. The intertwined leaves of sea oats provide a baffle which causes the winds to drop their sand and nutrient loads at the bases of the individual plants, building additional height to the dunes on which the plants grow and, additionally, allowing the plants to acquire the nutrients necessary to live in this harsh environment.

Picture of Sea Oats taken on Folly Island