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BULLETIN No. 82. 



spit. The sand is here fixed by strand vegetation which springs up to 

 the leeward of the dune ridge. Beach grass (Ammophila areanria) is 

 the important species serving to fix the sand; it springs up in large 

 clumps from a very vigorous underground rootstock, grows very rapid- 

 ly in height, and so keeps above the constantly accumulating sand. 



(3) To the leeward of the middle beach and extending to the bay 

 is a more or less marshy area comprising about 40 per cent of the area 



Fig. 6. Ordinary low dune, along seacoast. 



of the spit. This area is usually covered with a fairly thick growth of 

 marsh grass, upon which cattle browse, and which is cut for hay. 

 Spartina patens and Cyperus americaniis, in the more protected places, 

 form the bulk of the vegetation. 



Wherever the sand has become sufficiently fixed by beach and 

 marsh grasses, two shrubby species make their appearance, wax myrtle 

 (Myrica cerifera) and baccharis B. glomeruliflora, which make condi- 

 tions more favorable for seed germination and the development of pine 



