VEGETATION OF BLAKENEY POINT. 37 



has already been emphasised more than once, and a brief 

 consideration of Statice binervosa will serve to illustrate the 

 second. 



As described above, this plant is in general confined to a 

 zone corresponding with the flanks of the laterals. On the 

 main bank it is only found sparsely near the crest where the 

 bank is very broad and consequently less mobile. It is also 

 present on the slopes of the main bank, where a condition of 

 stability comparable to that of the laterals is brought about by 

 the presence of dunes situate on the seaward face. With 

 increase of fixity comes an acceleration in the rate of soil 

 accretion, and this favours the growth of the Statice until the 

 colonisation and spread of other plants brings in the factor 

 of competition. These, although unable to establish themselves 

 on the bare shingle, can successfully compete with the Statice 

 immediately a shallow soil has been formed. It would seem 

 that the condition of the fifth bank of the Marams series, where 

 the " Binervosa " zone extends completely over the crest, is a 

 condition in which the normal accretion of soil has been delayed. 

 The arrival of the crest flora marks the beginning of a struggle 

 in which, by the centrifugal extension of the turf, the " Biner- 

 vosa " zone is driven further and further towards the sides (the 

 places of slowest accretion), till finally it is narrowed to the 

 merest line, or even disappears entirely. Evidence for such a 

 sequence of events is furnished by relict plants of Statice, 

 which are distributed with some frequency towards the edges 

 of the crest association ; also on one of the laterals (Marams 

 bank No. 8), where a portion of the crest has been artificially 

 denuded of the overlying soil, we find Statice binervosa in 

 some considerable amount. The very narrow zone of Statice 

 on the intermediate lateral (" Yankee " bank) described above 

 is no doubt related to instability, but whether this zone in the 

 normal sequence of events spreads to the top of the bank before 

 conditions for establishment have become adverse by the 

 thickening up of the crest flora is open to considerable doubt. 



A striking feature of the relict Statices on the crest is that 

 their average height and general vigour is considerably in excess 



