132 I'LANT LIFK <>F ALABAMA. 



ill tlio sHiul ()ft(Mi closely covci" the soil. On the Ijordcrs of those 

 woods, and alniost foiiliiifd to tliciu. Iii/h</h>sjkh-<i ilodecandra is fre- 

 quont with the rare ('<(r<.r i/iisi/carjui, Ixitli of which occur also in 

 South Carolina. 



Mt'.s<q>lilhj>l<nif (issn<-!(ttl<)n.'< of tlw salt iiiarsJieK cmjermg the outlyhig 

 if<la)Hli<. — Dau})hiiic Island is the most easterly of the interrupted chain 

 of islands which incloses the waters of Mississippi Sound; it is the 

 largest that fronts the Alabama coast and was orij^insdly covered with 

 the Cuban pine. The flora of this island presents no new features, the 

 vofTotation of its dunes, saline marshes, and pine flats being identical 

 with that of the corresponding situations on the mainland. 



The low islets closer to the main shore and flooded by every high 

 tide arc bare of tree growth, and their borders, if not their whole 

 surface, are almost always soaked hy the briny sea, and are not rarely 

 covered with a floor of fine salt. Where sand and shingle, thrown up 

 by the waves, have raised the ground above continued overfloAV, ever- 

 green shrubs preferring a saline soil (halojjhytcs), such as Tvafru- 

 tescens, BaccJiaris halitnifolia and B. angustifolia^ fringe their shores, 

 together with Chenopodiuni herlandieri and Lyc'mm carolinianxmi (sea 

 cherry). Batls maritima^ Salicornia higelmni^ and S. omhigua^ low 

 shrubb}^ paludial halophytes, with Fhnibristylu spadicea^ form a dense, 

 close cover of perpetual verdure on these islands. 



Mesophile p>l(mt associatlon>t {/lalop/ujtic) of the salt tnarshes on the 

 main shore. — The shallow, tranquil waters of the numerous inlets of 

 the sea, with their floor of deep, sandy mud, which receive the smaller 

 pine-barren streams, are covered exclusively by the black rush {Janata 

 roemerianus). The rigid, sharp-pointed, leafless stems which rise 2 

 feet or more above the water, and are more or less crowded, present 

 a rather compact plant formation highly characteristic of the vegeta- 

 tion of the littoral region of the Southern Atlantic and Gulf States. 

 This formation might fltly be designated as the Southern Juncaceous 

 formation. This rush also forms the great Ijulk of the vegetation of 

 the extensive saline marshes lining the shore, which at low tide are 

 above water and which by their position are protected against the 

 violent action of the waves. In these marshes, associated with the 

 black rush occur: 



Fimbristylii^ castanea. IHsticJiUfi s^picata. 



Fimbristylis puberula. Chaetochhxi imberbis 2Jerennii> 



Spartina polystachya. Paspalum vaglnatum. 

 Cladium effusum. 



Also the following halophytes: 



lAmonium carolinianum. Borrichia fruiescens. 



Gerardia mariiima. Cynanclmm paluslre. 



In receding from the water front the marsh gradually rises above 

 continuous overflow, and the ground affords a firmer foothold. In 

 such situations the rushes and grasses disappear and a more or less 



