1913] | Murdoch,— Elymus arenarius at Provincetown 219 
Further reflection led to the thought that, since a large portion of 
the town is included in the “Province Lands," on which the Harbor 
and Land Commission has for many years been endeavoring to fix 
the moving sand dunes, possibly the Elymus might be one of the species 
thus introduced. A desire for further information on this point, as 
well as for more duplicates, led the writer to make another visit to the 
station this summer. 
Not much more than a hundred yards south of the present opening 
of Race Run, and a half mile or so south of Race Point Light, is one 
large clump of the Wild Wheat. This covers an area of perhaps three 
hundred square feet, and seems to be spreading, though the earlier 
notes are not definite enough to make sure. It is located on the low 
“fore dune,” and is surrounded by a vigorous growth of Ammophila. 
For at least a mile along the beach to the south, there is no more 
Elymus. To the best of the writer’s recollection, the same is true for 
the beach to the north and east. Less than a quarter of a mile back 
from the beach at this point are high dunes on which quantities of 
Ammophila have been planted, but that on the “fore dunes” shows 
every appearance of being natural. Not a sign of the Elymus was 
seen in this section either. 
Since it thus seemed fairly evident that this clump of Elymus was 
not planted in its present position, the next question that arose was 
whether it might not have escaped from a possible plantation in some 
other part of the “Province Lands.” Accordingly a search was made 
of the records in the office of the Harbor and Land Commission. 
Their reports and those of their Superintendent at Provincetown from 
1894, when they first took charge of the lands, to 1904, when the Ely- 
mus was first found, show that the only grass used was Ammophila, 
although many kinds of imported trees and shrubs have been tried. 
There are references to previous efforts at checking the drift of the 
sands, made by inhabitants of the town. These seem, however, 
merely to have consisted, like the present grass work, of transplanting 
shoots of Ammophila from places where it was abundant to the surface 
of the shifting portions. It seems quite probable, then, that this 
station really represents an extension of range. 
The single duplicate from the collection of 1904 has been placed in the 
Herbarium of the New England Botanical Club, while duplicates of this 
summer have been deposited both there and in the Gray Herbarium. 
NEWTONVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS. 
4 
