 STATICE CAROLINIANA. 
Marsh Rosemary. 
PLATE XXV. 
‘Bas class of vegetables, denominated mari- 
time, or sea shore plants, are constituted to occupy 
extensive tracts of ground, which, from their im- 
pregnation with sea salt, are incapable of sustain- 
ing the life and growth of other species. The mu- 
riate of soda, if poured at the roots of the most vigo- 
rous plants belonging to a fresh soil, will often de- 
stroy them in ashort time. Few forest trees of the 
temperate zones can grow in marshes where their 
roots are wholly exposed to the access of salt wa- 
ter. Yet such is the wise arrangement of nature, 
that this substance, which proves a poison to most 
vegetables, is converted into the food and necessa- 
ry stimulus of the rest. Maritime plants flourish 
alike in places visited by the tide, and those im- 
