202 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



often found in the salt marshes where a matted mass 

 of Samphire and other plants grow), English Sea- 

 grape, Frog-grass, Glasswort, Sea Grape, Sea Grass, 

 Pickle Plant, Saltwort, Samphire, Marsh Samphire, 

 Rock Samphire, Sampion. 



Allusion has already been made to the economic 

 value of Marsh Samphire. 



Salicornia herbacea. — In Fig. 57 the habit of the 

 plant is well shown, with the stem-joints thickened upward^ 

 and the long internodes of the flowering spikes. 



Shrubby Sea-Blite {Suceda fruticosa). 



According to Hooker and Arnott '' sused is the 

 Arabic appellation of one of the species, all of which 

 yield soda." The name Sea-Blite is applied as the 

 plant is a member of the group Chenopodiacese, 

 referring to the insipid taste. This species being 

 distinguished from the other species which is herba- 

 ceous by being shrubby, forming dense and extensive 

 low thickets by the coast, is called Shrubby Sea-Blite. 



This is a rare and local species, which is found 

 only in the south and east of England, on the coasts 

 of Dorset, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. 



Shingle-beaches, sandy and pebbly shores are the 

 principal habitat of the Shrubby Sea-Blite. It grows 

 also in the salt marsh. In the Blakeney district it 

 grows in the shingle-beach community forming an 

 extensive association at high and low levels, being 

 frequently exposed to the incoming tide. There it 

 plays an important part in the stabilisation of the 



