''Lechea maritima'', also known as beach pinweed, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the

Cistaceae The Cistaceae are a small family of plants (rock-rose or rock rose family) known for their beautiful shrubs, which are profusely covered by flowers at the time of blossom. This family consists of about 170(-200) species in eight genera that are ...

family found along coastal sandy dunes of the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

and into

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...

Description

''Lechea maritima'' is visually distinct from other ''Lechea'' species, characterized by dense, white

trichomes Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

, oblong leaves of the basal shoots, and a bushy-branched habit. The white trichomes help to distinguish it from the other pinweed in its northern range, narrowleaf pinweed (''

Lechea intermedia ''Lechea intermedia'' is a species of pinweed in the family Cistaceae (rock-roses). Common names for this species include large-pod pinweed, large-podded pinweed, intermediate pinweed, and round-fruited pinweed. Description Range The native ra ...

''). Like ''

Lechea racemulosa ''Lechea racemulosa'', common name Illinois pinweed, is a perennial plant native to the United States. Conservation status in the United States While considered globally secure, it is listed as a special concern and believed extirpated in Connec ...

'', it has narrowly elliptic stem leaves, sepals with three veins, and

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

that thicken below the

calyx CALYX, Inc. is a non-profit publisher of art and literature by women founded in 1976 based in Corvallis, Oregon. CALYX publishes both '' CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women'' twice a year and CALYX Books, which publishes one to three ...

. Plants flower in the mid to late summer; fruits develop in late summer to early fall. The radial shoots of the plant do not begin to form until the late autumn and continue developing until December. Flowering stems are tall and extensively branched.

Subspecies

Three subspecies of beach pinweed have been described: Virginia beach pinweed (''Lechea maritima'' var. ''virginica''), Gulf of St. Lawrence pinweed (''Lechea maritima'' var ''subcylindrica''), and beach pinweed (''Lechea maritima'' var ''maritima''). Gulf of St. Lawrence beach pinweed is a highly specialized dune plant that does not grow in the foredunes, which is often densely populated by American beachgrass. It is only found on the eastern coast of New Brunswick and in the Conway Sandhills of Prince Edward Island. This subspecies has been assessed as a species of special concern; over 60% of individuals are found in protected areas. The largest Canadian populations are in

Kouchibouguac National Park Kouchibouguac National Park () is a national park located on the east coast of New Brunswick in Kouchibouguac and was established in 1969 to preserve a section of the Canadian Maritime Plain region. The park includes barrier islands, sand ...

. First Nations such as the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

Confederacy of

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

and the Lennox Island First Nation, as well as the

Nature Conservancy of Canada The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a private, non-profit, charitable nature conservation and restoration organisation based in Canada. Since its founding in 1962, the organisation and its partners have protected of land and water acro ...

, are involved in conservation efforts to protect a population on Hog Island, Prince Edward Island. Hodgdon (1938) stated that the Virginia beach pinweed range was from southern Maine to Delaware; in 1938, var. ''virginica'' was known only from

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, and

Princess Anne, Virginia Princess Anne is a community located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States at the junction of Princess Anne Road and North Landing Road near the West Neck River. The community, which dates from 1691, was named after Pr ...

. As of 2007, it was identified from eight countries in Virginia, as well as one county in Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina. Virginia beach pinweed generally have thicker stems than those of var. ''maritima'' and is more robust.

Distribution

Beach pinweed is found almost exclusively along the Atlantic coast, but extends inward in Massachusetts and New Hampshire for approximately . It is found from New Brunswick to North Carolina. In the early 1910s, it was described as one of the most common plants on the island of

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

where it grew in "pure" sands. It is often found with ''

Hudsonia tomentosa ''Hudsonia tomentosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the rockrose family known by the common names woolly beachheather, beach heather, and sand heather. It is native to northeastern North America, including central and eastern Canada and th ...

'', another species in the rock rose family.

Conservation

Beach pinweed is threatened by rising tides that lead to dune erosion due to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. The species is considered Globally Secure (G5), but the Gulf of St. Lawrence beach pinweed population has a national rank of imperilled (N2) in Canada.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3270075 Cistaceae Flora of Prince Edward Island