A highly-characteristic and common species of dunes in Wales. Its leaves are arranged radially around an upright stem and have a long white hair-point at their tips. When moist it appears a bright golden-green in colour but when dry it has quite a different appearance - the leaves become twisted around the stem with the hair-points clustered together tightly, and the predominant colour is brown. It is most abundant on the unstable "yellow" dunes - those which have not yet developed a continuous carpet of vegetation.