Florida Nature Poetry, Sea Oats

Florida native plant short verse for Wednesday. Sea oats, Uniola paniculata

Florida Nature Haiku, Sea Oats, Kevin Songer

…

mice, birds and bunnies
tasty seeds eat, summer grub
when no chips are around
…

Sea oats are a protected grass found growing along the Gulf and Atlantic seashores, primarily across the sand dunes. Sea oats provide important forage for beach mice and shorebirds as well as shelter. Their roots help stabilize dunes, preventing erosion. As a child I always possessed a strong desire to grab a handful of seeds off the plant and I’m not sure if this was because I was always told not to pick them or because it looked like a fun thing to do. Sea oats are some of the only native plants to grow in the harsh salt laden environment, close to water's edge and as such provide important communal and foraging habitat to wildlife.