923 



officinalis cast ashore and bleached. The most iniportant species are: 

 Honckenya peploides, Cakile maritima, Matricaria inodora, var. phae- 

 ocephala, Atriplex Babingtonii, Ehjmus and Potenlilla anserina; ■ the 

 following are also met with : Mertensia maritima, Cochlearia officinalis, 

 Agropyriim repens, Carex incurva, Agrostis stolonifera, Glyceria distans 

 and Cerastium tetrandrum, as well as a few other casual visitors. 

 These piants do not all occur on the same beach-level. One 



Fig. 173. Saiul- 



iNinii vegetation with Cakile as character- plant ; Kvalbci on Sydero. 

 (From photo. by E. Warming). 



may distinguish jbetween thei typical strand-vegetation (^f/o/? c/ren i/a 

 association) characterized by Honckenya, Cakile and Atriplex (viz. 

 Fig. 173), and the somewhat denser vegetation of the higher banks 

 (Elymus association) yvith Potentilla anserina, Carex incurva, Ely- 

 mus, etc, which in turn gradually passes over to the dune-formation. 

 These associations may occur on broad flat sandy beaches, or 

 in narrower zones along the steeper coast-banks. On the latter the 

 conditions for existence are somewhat better than on the flat beach, 

 because the rising and the falling tides have more influence on a 

 flat expanse than on the narrower beaches of a fjord-margin. This 

 influence is further increased by the force of the waves during the 

 frequent storms, so that large tracts of the beach may be completely 

 devoid of vegetation (Fig. 169). 



