Early sand grass, a miniature miracle

Apr 8 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

The most modest of plants can become an old friend in the right circumstances, although you need a good nose to start with. Karen Rawlins encounters a rare and exquisite little sand dune inhabitant, and proves the point

I CLEARLY remember the day I first saw early sand grass on the dunes at Aberffraw, on Anglesey.

I knew it was there, theoretically, but had rather assumed that it was so rare and tiny that I’d never see it unless I made a studied effort, something which I had never found time for, and possibly never would.

It was February, and very cold, but nevertheless we were doing our duty by the dogs and taking them for their regular walk across the dunes to the beach.

We were wrapped up warm, but hadn’t expected rain, so when an alarmingly black front of cloud loomed over the horizon promising an imminent downpour, we ran for cover in the lee of the largest nearby dune and hunkered down to wait for it to pass.

And that’s when I saw it. It turned out I was lying next to it and it was quite literally next to my nose.

It caught my attention simply because it was so small in comparison with the relatively massive plashes of the raindrops leaving craters around it.

But it was growing in almost bare sand, so it wasn’t really difficult to see, and once I’d looked around, I could see that there was quite a bit of it on the edges of the blown-out sand of the dune.

It is reputed to be the smallest grass in the world and is recorded as native from only 15 National Grid hectads in the UK, making it nationally rare – the recorded locations being Anglesey, Gower, the Channel Isles and the Sefton Coast.

Belonging to the Poaceae family, it is a compact tufted annual grass with narrow (about 0.5mm), hairless, slightly inrolled leaves which can have a purplish tinge, and spikes of flowers which are largely one-sided and red-purple- green in colour and typically up to 2cm high – I’ve never seen it any taller that about 2cm at Aberffraw.

There is variation in its morphology, though, particularly in the length of the flower stalk at more southern locations.

It is quite easy to identify, particularly early in the year, because of its early flowering season – February to May – and its diminutive size.

You can’t really see it until you are kneeling, and there are not many other small grasses that flower so early to confuse it with.

It requires very open, sparsely vegetated habitat with plenty of bare, but not mobile, sand in which to set seed.

It has very inefficient seed dispersal, and cannot compete with perennial species in the wetter slacks or the more consolidated fixed dunes and is most successful in dry open dunes because it is highly resistant to soil moisture stress.

It’s a pioneer of a pretty hostile habitat when you consider it – bare sand is very nutrient poor, exposed and extremely free-draining, and not many species are able to adapt to these conditions.

The benefits for Mibora are the lack of competition from other plants unable to cope with the difficult conditions and the ample colonisation opportunities.

If you want to see early sand grass at Aberffraw, you should look for it in areas closely grazed or excavated by rabbits, the trampled areas along the edges of footpaths or the margins of fixed dune blowouts.

Since that first chance occasion, I now see Mibora at Aberffraw every year, without fail. Of course, now I actually look for it, and when I find that wonderful miniature miracle, it is like seeing an old friend again.

I always take it as a hopeful sign that winter is almost over, and glorious spring is on its way.

Karen Rawlins has worked for the Countryside Council for Wales in Bangor since she graduated from Lancaster University in 1991 with a degree in Ecology. She has lifelong links with Anglesey and lives near Aberffraw with her husband and two dogs.

This article appears in the spring edition of the quarterly magazine Natur Cymru – The Nature of Wales. Annual subscriptions cost £14, or £13 by Direct Debit; single copies of the latest issue are £4. Please send cheques (payable to Natur Cymru) quoting the Western Mail, to: Natur Cymru, Maes y Ffynnon, Penrhos Garnedd, Bangor LL57 2DW