mm long, divergent to somewhat recurved. It flowers June to September. Identification Apart from its specific coastal habitat, sea holly may also be distinguished from its congeners by the deeper, strongly spiny teeth on the basal leaves and stem leaves. Distribution Throughout its range, sea holly is a coastal species, occurring locally and almost continuously along the coastlines of England and Ireland. In Great Britain, it is most abundant on the south and west coasts, but now largely extinct from the coasts of northeast England and Scotland on a local scale; however, it may have once been more common and widespread here It was formerly extant in Shetland, but never properly established here at the northernmost limit of its native range. The last Shetland record was made from Fitful Head in 1884, where the plant probably once grew extensively on the sands of the Bay of Quendale In Europe and adjacent parts of northern Africa and the Middle East, the plant has a wide native distribution. In these regions, it occurs on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas as well as the Black and Azov Seas. The distribution also extends northwards into Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Lativa, and Estonia, along the Skagerrak and the Swedish islands of Gotland and Öland. The Scandinavian distribution is relatively southerly, extending only as far north as southern Norway and Sweden Sea holly has been introduced to parts of eastern North America, where it was once valued as an ornamental plant for seashore restoration. It has also been introduced to Australia with plantings of marram grass. Habitat and Ecology Sea holly characteristically grows on the well-drained substrates of sand dunes and shingles confined to regions with mild winters. More rarely, it may be found growing on rocky coasts featuring patches of sand between artificial hard coastal protection features with a similar structure to shingle. In northern Britain, its distribution is limited by the lack of suitable dune systems to grow on It withstands the harsh environmental conditions typical of beaches and coastal dune habitats worldwide; namely low soil nutrient levels, frost, strong salty winds, high temperatures and insolation, and periodic sand burial. Sea holly is associated with various shingle and strandline communities, where it may be scattered within the vegetation. On shingles, sea holly occurs within Honckenya peploides-Cakile maritima strandline community above the tidal limit On dunes, sea holly may