SAND DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



of William Hudson, an early English botanist. 

 Matted together like heather and close to the 

 sand, it forms in summer great patches of a 

 beautiful sage green, which in the autumn are 

 tinged with yellow, and in winter become 

 sandy gray, while in the spring all is smoth- 

 ered in the brilliant yellow of the closely 

 crowded blossoms. The Hudsonia is a plant 

 well worth knowing. 



In the dry sand a number of interesting 

 and characteristic plants are to be found, some 

 of which prefer the sea side of the dunes close 

 to the beach. The American sea rocket is one 

 of these, a plant of the mustard family, with 

 small purplish flowers, but swollen and drop- 

 sical like a sand-loving cactus. Another swol- 

 len cactus-like plant is the saltwort, cactus- 

 like also in that it is beset with sharp points, 

 woeful things for the bare foot. 



The resemblance of these plants to the cacti 

 is not wholly accidental, for, like cacti, they 

 are growing to a certain extent under desert 

 conditions, and it is incumbent on them, there- 

 fore, to treasure up as much moisture as pos- 

 sible. In the dunes the air always contains 

 moisture, and the sand is wet a few inches 

 down, no matter how dry it may be on the sur- 



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