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SEABEACH AMARANTH
The seabeach amaranth helps to build the beach by trapping wind-blown sand and creating miniature dunes.
The seabeach amaranth, Amaranthus pumilus, is a tiny annual beach plant that all but disappeared
in the middle of the last century on Long Island, but for the past decade, or so, it is making a recovery.
Nevertheless, it is still on the Federal list of threatened species.
Historically, seabeach amaranth was found in 31 counties fronting the Atlantic Ocean
in 9 states from Massachusetts to South Carolina.
According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, it has been entirely eliminated from 6 of those states
and is found now in 3 states in 55 colonies.
13 colonies of seabeach amaranth exist in New York, 34 colonies in North Carolina and 8 colonies in South Carolina.
National Wildlife Federation reports the appearance of plants in New Jersey and Delaware in recent years.
The seabeach amaranth occurs on barrier island beaches,
where its primary habitat consists of unvegetated beaches like overwash flats at accreting ends of islands,
lower foredunes and upper strands of noneroding beaches.
There are occasional temporary colonies on sound beaches,
blowouts in foredunes and beach replenishment dredge soil and shell material.
In general, the seabeach amaranth does not tolerate competition
and does not occur in areas with other grasses and plant growth.
This species seems to require extensive areas of barrier island beaches and inlets functioning naturally
without artificial stabilizing structures.
As previously mentioned, seabeach amaranth has been eliminated from 2/3 of its historic range
and its continued existence is threatened by beach construction, beach grooming, off road vehicles and foot traffic,
beach erosion, tidal inundation, and grazing by feral animals and insects.
As beach grasses and sea oats thrive and spread the seabeach amaranth will move on to barer areas of the beach.
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A ground hugging plant,
the seabeach amaranth has fleshy pinkish-red stems with tiny rounded leaves that are only about 1/2” to 1” in diameter.
The spinach-green colored leaves are clustered at the end of the stem and have a small notch at their tip.
Flowers and fruits are minute and barely noticeable clustered along the stems.
Germination occurs from April to July.
The plant initially forms a small unbranched sprig, and then branches out into a clump.
The clump of 5 to 20 branches reaches about a foot in diameter.
Sometimes a clump may grow 3 feet across with over 100 branches.
Flowering begins as soon as the plant grows sufficiently, usually in July, and continues until the plant dies in late fall.
Seed production starts in July; peaks in September and continues until the plant’s death.
Weather events like heavy rains, hurricanes and temperature extremes have an impact on the length of the seabeach amaranth’s reproductive period, as does predation by webworms.
The obvious question is: how does the seabeach amaranth, an annual plant, spontaneously reappear in the spring?
And, even stranger, how did it reappear after being missing for decades?
Some scientists believe that the seeds can lie dormant for years, deep in the dunes
or in the ocean floor mud, until a storm stirs them up.
Also, it is believed that the hurricane gales that wipe out amaranth plants may propel its seeds from one region to another.
The seabeach amaranth helps to build the beach by trapping wind-blown sand and creating miniature dunes.
In a few months a cluster of the amaranth plants can build a dune 18” high and 12’ across.
These plants cope well with salt spray and poor soil and can get moisture from sea breezes and morning fogs.
They can’t survive beach traffic and nowadays the string-fenced prohibited areas set up by Nature Conservancy and the DEC
on Long Island beaches are often protecting the threatened seabeach amaranth in addition to tern and plover nests.
More AMARANTH
Amaranthus pumilus, common names: seabeach amaranth or seabeach pigweed, is a "Federally Threatened Species".
Historically, Amaranthus pumilus was found in New York from Coney Island through Suffolk County.
Until recently, the last known siting of Amaranth on Long Island was in 1956.
During July of 1990, Amaranth was rediscovered along several south shore beaches.
Over 50% of all plants found on Long Island were located on Town of Babylon beaches.
Although it is not known why the plants have reappeared on Long Island,
the favored theory speculates that seeds from southern colonies were transported up the coast by coastal storms
during 1989-1990.
Seabeach Amaranth is an annual, generally germinating from April to July.
The plant will generally live until the first frost (November-December).
The plant will grow on the beach usually between the high tide mark and the seaward toe of the primary dune.
Adult plants will grow into a dense clump measuring 1 to 3 feet in diameter.
Preserve and Protect our Beaches.
and Brian Zitani, 4 / 1994
Brian Zitani is from the Town of Babylon Department of Environmental Control
all trademarks and copyrights are the property of Save the Beaches Fund, Inc.