The dunes immediately adjacent to the beach support a plant community dominated by beachgrass. The beachgrass grows runners under the surface of the sand that interlock into a ropelike network, and actually builds the dune by trapping sand. Some tall wormwood plants grow amidst the beachgrass, as do cottonwood trees and sand dune willows. Cottonwood is the only dune-forming tree in the area. Sand dune willows are fairly rare in New York State, but are a common woody plant in these dunes. This "beachgrass plant community" stabilizes the dunes against erosion by wind and storm, and enables the growth of a more complex, "poison ivy-dune grape-cottonwood plant community" deeper in the dunes.