Botanical atlas

Bay Cedar

Suriana maritima

Bay cedar has long been a fixture of shoreline life wherever warm tides meet sand, from the Florida Keys and the Caribbean to Pacific and Indian Ocean coastlines. Coastal communities have planted it for generations as a living windbreak and dune anchor, its tangled roots holding sand in place against storms and salt wind. In scattered folk traditions along some of these same coasts, the leaves have occasionally been crushed and applied to the skin as a soothing wash, though this practice is far less documented or standardized than its long-standing role as a hardy, protective shoreline plant. Its resilience, more than any tea or tincture, is what has earned it a place in coastal gardens and memory alike.

Safety.

Bay cedar has no documented history of medicinal use and no reliable safety data, so it should not be eaten or brewed; it is grown mainly as a coastal landscaping plant.