PIPER FLORA OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 45 



SEASHORES. 



Immediate proximity to the sea furnishes conditions that support 

 a strip of vegetation consisting of few but very characteristic species. 

 On the Washington coast there are two marked formations — the sand 

 dunes and the salt marshes. 



Typical sand dunes are confined to the ocean coast, not occurring 

 on Puget Sound. The important sand-loving plants are : 



Ahronia latifolia. Lathyrus littoralis. 



Ahronia umhellata. Lupinus littoralis. 



Carex inacrocepliala Poa macrantha. 



Glehnia littoralis. Tiinacetum huronense. 



Less abundant, but not less characteristic, are : 



Agoseris maritima. Pentacacna rainosissiina. 



Carex pansa. Poa confinis. 



Oaertneria chamissonis. Polygonum paronychia. 



Juncus lescurii. Sanicula hoiccUii. 



In the lee of the dunes or on shores where the sand does not drift 

 there is often a strip of black pine {Pinus contortd)^ forming dense 

 thickets, the trees seldom over 30 feet high. AVhere not timbered 

 various species adapted to campestrin.e conditions abound, but few of 

 them are confined to the seashore. Such are : 



Argentina anscrina. Fragaria chilocnsis. 



Carduus edulis. Trifolium wormskioldii. 



Cerastium arvense. Viola adunca. 

 Festuca rubra. 



Intermediate in character between these meadowy beaches and sand 

 dunes are sand spits and high, sandy beaches. These maintain, in 

 consequence, a rather mixed flora. 



Salt or brackish marshes are most commonly found on low shores, 

 especially near the mouths of streams, where they are at least occa- 

 sionally covered by high tides. They often occur also behind high 

 sea beaches. Most of the plants are those which love a saline soil. 

 The most characteristic are saltgrass {Distichlis spicata) and glass- 

 wort (/^S'aZ^C(9rm« ambigua)., the latter often infested with a dodder 

 {Cuscuta squamigera) . 



A portion of the plants found in these seashore marshes are con- 

 fined to the immediate proximity of the sea. Such are : 



Ammodenia peploides. " Jaumea carnosa. 

 Atriplex littoralis. Lathyrus maritimus. 



Carex cryptocarpa. Orthocarpus castilleioidcs. 



Coelopleurum maritimum. Sidalcea hendersoni. 



Conioselinum fischeri. Tissa marina. 



Others occur also in alkaline marshes in the interior, such as Juncus 

 bctlticus^ Glaux maritima.^ and Triglochin maritimum. 



