404 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



Marrams," as at Caistor and Blakeney, though at the 

 latter place Marram is not now dominant, but further 

 west at Blakeney Point. 



Being a maritime plant it is found only along the 

 coast, where it is frequent as far north as the Shet- 

 lands, occurring also in Ireland and the Channel 

 Islands. 



Seashores, sand-hills, dunes, are the habitats of 

 Marram Grass. On sand-dunes it is often the domi- 

 nant plant. It occurs in the sand-dune formation in 

 the Sea Couch-grass association, forming also an 

 association in itself, the Marram or Star-grass 

 association. It also occurs in the shingle beach 

 vegetation. 



In habit the Marram is of the Grass type. There 

 is a creeping rootstock which helps to bind the sand 

 together. The stems are erect, stiff, smooth or rough 

 above. The leaves are rigid, bluish-green, long, 

 hollow, the margins inrolled, pohshed without, rough 

 and bluish-green within, acute. The sheaths are 

 long. The ligule is very long, torn, bifid. 



The flowers are in a more or less cylindrical, 

 straight panicle, narrowed into a loose narrow spike, 

 broader, lobed below, yellow. The branches are 

 short. The spikelets are crowded, erect, on rough 

 stalks. The outer glumes are lance-shaped, flat- 

 tened, acute, with a rough keel, stiff and chaify. 

 The floAvering glumes are shorter, stiff, with a tuft of 

 hairs outside, linear to oblong, three times as long as 

 the hairs, acute. The palea is like the glumes, as 



