CHAPTER XX. 

 FLOWERS OF THE SHORE AND CLIFFS. 



JUST as in walking along the shore we have on one hand 

 a region inhabited by specialised races of animal and plant 

 life altogether different from those of the land, so also on the 

 landward side we have flowering plants distinct in most cases 

 from those found but a short distance inland. Strictly speak- 

 ing, the stretch of shore, whether it be shingle, sand, or rocks, 

 does not form a barrier separating sea plants from those of 

 the land, for the terrestrial and the submarine overlap through 

 the medium of the frondose lichen, Lichina pygiM<za> which, 

 belonging to a terrestrial group, spends half its day in the 

 water and the other half exposed to the atmosphere. The 

 pretty Sea-Milkwort (Glaux maritimd) takes up the connect- 

 ing thread on the land side, and establishes its roots and 

 woody base jammed in the crevices of rocks, where they must 

 absorb more salt water than fresh, and at times it must be 

 entirely covered by the sea. That this salt is thoroughly 

 congenial to its nature we may gather from the fact that the 

 only inland localities where Glaux grows are the salt-produc- 

 ing districts. It attains to only a few inches in height, and its 

 small, smooth, stalkless, glaucous leaves are thickened like 

 many other shore plants, and dotted all over with minute pits. 

 The flowers are devoid of petals, but the bell-shaped calyx is 

 coloured of a flesh-tint, and sprinkled with very small dots of 

 crimson. Its flowering period is from May to August. 



In similar situations grows the beautiful little Sandwort 

 Spurrey (Spergularia nibra), with many slender compressed, 

 ruddy stems radiating from a woody rootstock; the leaves 



