Seaside Goldenrod

I found this view at the north end of the island, at Sancho Panza, particularly appealing not only for its open sky and fall color, but because it nicely illustrates the transition from saltmarsh to maritime shrub thicket and grassland.

In the tidal pool on the left of the image, saltwater-tolerant spartina (Spartina alterniflora) dominates. As the land begins to rise, as seen toward the middle of the painting, the mixing of rainwater runoff has attracted a slightly less salt-tolerant variety of spartina (Spartina patens) as well as sea ox-eye daisy, a shrubby high-marsh species. Continuing higher and rising completely above the tidal influence, muhly grass, wax myrtle, and the glorious seaside goldenrod have colonized this remnant dune. These plants can tolerate living very close to the ocean, but not right on the beach.

– adapted from The Wild Treasury of Nature: A Portrait of Little St. Simons Island, Philip Juras, UGA Press, 2016.

Studio painting – March.