362 



BOTANICAL SURVEY OF DISMAL SWAMP REGION. 



where the tidal range is marked, so t hat a largo section of the stem is 

 under water at Mood, and here it grows usually to a height of about 

 1 meter (:> to I feel). Its papery lower leaf sheaths, persistent 

 at. the base of the stout culms, form a close-fitting envelope which 

 serves admirably as a protection against the water (fig. 5<S). The 

 color of the Spartina is a line bright green, turning to brown as the 

 c\u\ of 1 he growing season approaches. Among the secondary members 

 of the association the succulent, almost leafless, annual glasswort 

 [Salicomia herbacea) is most important. It is especially eonspicu- 



Piq. 5y, — Spartina striata maritima. 



oils when, as often happens in the fall, the whole plant becomes 

 bright red. 



Juncus roenier iun its association. — The rush which gives character 

 to this association is perhaps the most abundant salt-marsh plant of 

 the region. It usually occurs just inside the growth of Spartina 

 stricta, to which its dark green, almost black, color offers a striking 

 contrast, especially in early summer. The serried stems and leaves 

 of this Juncus, mostly 1 meter or so high, terete, stiff, and sharp- 

 pointed, form a dense growth wherever the plant occurs, usually 



