Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Sea-oats - Shore Little Bluestem - Bitter Panicgrass Grassland

Colloquial Name: South Atlantic Loamy Coastal Dune Grassland

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This dunegrass association occurs on ocean front dunes on barrier islands and barrier spits in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, from southeastern Virginia to South Carolina and possibly Georgia. Uniola paniculata is the dominant species, with Schizachyrium littorale and Panicum amarum also common and characteristic. Ammophila breviligulata may be common in Dare and Currituck counties of northeastern North Carolina, and in southeastern Virginia. Other typical species include Croton punctatus, Oenothera humifusa, Physalis walteri, Hydrocotyle bonariensis, Heterotheca subaxillaris, and Chrysopsis gossypina. This is the characteristic foredune vegetation immediately south and north of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, perhaps associated with slightly loamier soils with more influence of riverine sediments.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: At the northern range limit, this vegetation shares many species with dune grasslands characterized by Ammophila breviligulata and Panicum amarum var. amarum. Where the two grasslands overlap geographically, dominance by Uniola paniculata may be the only means of distinguishing this type from northern dune grasslands. Scattered clumps of Uniola paniculata have been recently discovered at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Wallops Island in Virginia, where they were previously unknown, suggesting that this species may be migrating northward.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available