Allergy Information

Although the grass family in general is considered significant allergenically, this genus is not typically a standout.

Genus Details

Beachgrass is a tough, course perennial grass. This grass has long, tough blades and dense spike-like panicles (flowering structures). Beachgrass blooms June-July and sheds a lot of pollen. Beachgrass is an important sand-binder (erosion controller) extensively used to arrest drifting sand dunes along big lakes and both coasts. Generally it is 2 to 3 feet tall.

Pollen Description

Grains are spheroidal to ovoidal, sometimes elliptical. The exine is thin and the surface is granular to finely reticuloid. Poaceae apertures are 1-porate, with the pores usually circular to ovoidal.

Grains are 22-122 micrometers in diameter.

Genus Distribution

The shaded areas on the map indicates where the genus has been observed in the United States.

- Native, observed in a county 

- Introduced, observed in a county 

- Rarely observed