Mountains in the Wadden Sea
You will only rarely climb as many mountains as on your trip to Fanø, Rømø and Skallingen: Kikkebjerg, Pælebjerg, Høstbjerg, Stagebjerg, Spidsbjerg, Dødemandsbjerg and many more. The highest of these mountains is 21 metres. Western Jutlanders are not exactly known for their big words or for bragging, but when it comes to naming a few hills, they're not afraid to call them mountains. Everything is relative in the flat country of Denmark, and even though you don’t get altitude sickness from climbing the mountains, you will be dizzy at the astonishing view. This is countryside with big skies.
Sand dunes on Rømø
Rømø is merely long-shore bar in the sea. However, despite this, a relatively varied and rich plant life has emerged. How this can happen is easy to see on the island, as it is an ongoing process in which Rømø is growing further and further out into the North Sea.
The North Sea is constantly pushing ever more sand up onto the beach. The sand dries. The wind takes the sand and blows it into piles - in small dunes - which are formed behind small obstacles of washed up seaweed, little rocks etc. There is shelter here. And here vegetation gains its footing.
The youngest sand dunes lie furthest to the west. The youngest one, which is called “the white sand dune” is almost without plant life, apart from lyme grass and marram grass. After this is “the green sand dune” with its tight fur of marram grass and herbs such as wild thyme, Lady’s bedstram, field pansy, maiden pink, and caryophyllaceae.
Further towards the east is “the grey sand dune”, with open breaches in the dune summits featuring many species of larvae and mosses, as well as herbs such as sheep’s fescue, waxy hair grass, sand sedge, sheepsbit scabious, field pansy and common cat’s ear.
The natural end to “the grey sand dune” has the oldest parts of Rømø: the dune heath with stunted bushes such as heather and crowberry. Furthest to the east are farmlands and marshlands out towards the Wadden Sea.
Natural windbreaks
Species of grass such as marram grass and lyme grass quell the drifting of sand by creating windbreaks. Both species of grass endure and even require periodical sand cover. They sort of grow with the sand dune.
Marram grass: This could be called the king of the sand dunes, with its one-metre-long roots and straw growing up to one-and-a-half metres high, marram grass holds the sand dunes together. The leaves are grey-green and involuted, which means that they are a little sharp if you walk across the dunes in bare feet. They always grow in clumps. Marram grass blooms in June, July and August, and the flowers are tufty spikelets.
Lyme grass: Lyme grass is a strong species of grass which can grow up to 1½m-high blue-green straws. But unlike marram grass, lyme grass does not grow in clumps and the leaves are wide and outfolded. Lyme grass has up to 30cm-long spikes and blooms in June to September.