154 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



and flowers which flourish in no locality so well 

 as on the sea-shores, for which they are peculiarly 

 adapted. Their fitness for the localities in which 

 they thus flourish affords one of the many proofs 

 which the various departments of nature exhibit 

 of the express purpose and design of the all-wise 

 Creator. 



The numerous family of British grasses com- 

 prehends more than a hundred and twenty species, 

 and of these about twenty belong exclusively to 

 the sea-shores, some making their habitation in 

 rocky and stony places, others in salt marshes and 

 in muddy soil, and others growing in the sand. 

 Those making their abode in the sand are con- 

 siderably more numerous 'than all the. rest. It 

 will be sufficient to enumerate a few of those 

 most likely to come under the notice of the visitor 

 of the seaside. 



The seaside Catstail-grass (Phleum arenarium) 

 is a short grass about six inches in height, which 

 flowers in July, and grows in the sand. The 

 beard grass (Polypogon littoralis), which flourishes 

 in salt marshes is about a foot in height, the 

 straws are branched, the leaves are rough on both 

 sides, and the panicle or cluster of flowers is of a 

 purplish colour. The Dog's-tooth grass (Cynodon 

 dactylon), like the last, is found on the southern 

 shores of England, but grows in sand ; the grey 

 hair-grass (Aira canescens), found chiefly on the 

 sandy shores of Suffolk and Norfolk, is about six 

 inches high, and possesses a panicle of numerous 

 small flowers, variegated with purple, green, and 



