The coastline of the province of A Coruña is home to many species of plants – many of them endangered – growing in the peculiar environments created by the interaction between the sea and the land, such as the Anllóns estuary.
From a botanical point of view, this stretch of Ponteceso's coast is exceptional, for here are endangered species, such as Omphalodes littoralis subsp. Gallaecica, characteristic of dune areas, which boasts a healthy population; the Rumex rupestris (labaza de Ribeira in Galician), which is located by the sea at very specific points, and Linaria aguillonensis, which in Galician has the name of a bird: paxariños amarelos (yellow birds). It is an endangered species whose habitat is restricted to beaches and sea cliffs.
Although more abundant, we cannot overlook the great botanical diversity that finds its home in the different existing habitats. Some of the most important are the submerged eelgrass (Zostera noltii) meadows, the marsh vegetation with plants as interesting as the small cordgrass (Spartina maritima), grasswort – also known as pickleweed and marsh samphire – (Salicor ramosissima), sea rushes (Juncus maritimus), reeds (Phragmites australis) and bulrushes (Scirpus maritimus).
The dunes are also places with vegetation that is both characteristic and very valuable. At the highest part of the A Insua's dune system – the Dunas da Barra – in better established areas grows European Marram grass (or European beachgrass) (Ammophila arenaria) which has a very extensive root system that helps to anchor the sand. This strip of land is also home to the sea lily (Pancratium maritimun), the marine thistle (Eryngium maritimun) and the Otanthus maritimus. Closer to the sea can be found Euphorbia paralias and, even closer, are species that live really close to the water such as the sea sandwort and the European sea rocket (Cakile maritima).