PIPER—FLORA OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 45 
SEASHORES. 
Immediate proximity to the sea furnishes conditions that support 
a strip of vegetation consisting of few but very characteristic species. 
On the Washington coast there are two marked formations—the sand 
dunes and the salt marshes. 
Typical sand dunes are confined to the ocean coast, not occurring 
on Puget Sound. The important sand-loving plants are: 
Abronia latifolia. Lathyrus littoralis. 
Abronia umbellata. Lupinus littoralis. 
Carex macrocephala Poa macrantha. 
Glehnia littoralis. Tanacetum huronense. 
Less abundant, but not less characteristic, are: 
Agoseris maritima, Pentacaena ramosissima, 
Carer pansa. Poa confinis. 
Gaertneria chamissonis. Polygonum paronychia. 
Juncus leseurii, Sanicula howellii, 
In the lee of the dunes or on shores where the sand does not drift 
there is often a strip of black pine (Pinus contorta), forming dense 
thickets, the trees seldom over 30 feet high. Where not timbered 
‘arious species adapted to campestrine conditions abound, but few of 
them are confined to the seashore. Such are: 
Argentina anserina. Fragaria chiloensis. 
Carduus edulis. Trifolium wormskioldii. 
Cerastium arvense. Viola adunca. 
Festuca rubra. 
Intermediate in character between these meadowy beaches and sand 
dunes are sand spits and high, sandy beaches. These maintain, in 
consequence, a rather mixed flora. 
Salt or brackish marshes are most commonly found on low shores, 
especially near the mouths of streams, where they are at least occa- 
sionally covered by high tides. They often occur also behind bigh 
sea beaches. Most of the plants are those which love a saline soil. 
The most characteristic are saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) and glass- 
wort (Salicornia ambigua), the latter often infested with a dodder 
(Cuscuta squamigera). 
A portion of the plants found in these seashore marshes are con- 
fined to the immediate proximity of the sea. Such are: 
Ammodenia peploides. Jaumea carnosa. 
Atriplex littoralis. Lathyrus maritimus. 
Carex cryptocarpa. Orthocarpus castilleioides. 
Coelopleurum maritimum. Sidalcea hendersoni. 
Conioselinum fischeri. Tissa marina. 
Others occur also in alkaline marshes in the interior, such as Juncus 
balticus, Glaue maritima, and Triglochin maritimum. 
