52. STATICE CAROLINIANA. 
pregnated by the salt springs of the interior. The 
degree in which they require the presence of the 
mineral is various, some growing upon the beach, 
where the earth is saturated with salt, and others 
atthe extreme edge of marshes, where the impreg- 
nation is much less powerful. With a few excep- 
tions, they cannot long be cultivated in fresh earth, 
but soon decay when remoyed from their native 
marshes, 
Maritime plants deriye a peculiar character 
from. their place of growth, which distinguishes 
them even when dry from other vegetables. The 
salt with which they are impregnated crystallizes 
on their surface in dry weather; and. deliquesces 
so as to render them damp and supple, when the 
atmosphere is moist. These plants are trouble- 
some in an herbarium from the facility with which - 
they contract moisture from the atmosphere, and 
communicate it to the adjacent papers. The hay 
cut upon salt marshes often becomes extremely 
damp, and would be entirely spoiled, were it not 
for the antiseptic and preservative quality of the 
salt. The barilla of commerce is obtained by the 
combustion of maritime vegetables. 
Many of these plants are thick and fleshy intheir 
mode of growth, and differ remarkably in this rese 
pect from their co-species on dry ground. This is 
