-24- 



Salt Marsh 



The dominant species growing in the extensive salt 

 marshes behind Plum Island are the marsh grasses Spartina 

 alternif lora (saltwater cordgrass) and S. patens (saltmeadow 

 grass) , while the less dominant S. pectinata (freshwater 

 cordgrass) and S. caespitosa occur along the upper borders. 

 Before the turn of the century these marshes were an 

 important source of salt marsh hay (Jewett, 1949) . In 

 addition to the salt marsh grasses the more common plants 

 growing on the marsh include Limonium carolinianum (sea 

 lavender) , Gerardia mar itima (gerardia) , Salicornia europaea 

 (samphire) , Spergularia marina (sand-spurrey) , Aster 

 subulatus (salt marsh aster) , Bassia hirsuta , Sueada spp . 

 (sea-blite) , Glaux mar itima (sea milkwort) , Plantago 

 oliganthos (seaside plantain) , Iva f rutescens (marsh-elder) , 

 Potentilla egedei , Tr iglochin mar itima (arrow-grass) , and 

 Puccinellia mar itima (goosegrass) . 



Roadsides and Disturbed Areas 



The disturbance due to the development of the north end 

 of the island and the completion of the road through the 

 Refuge has provided additional habitats for plants not 

 commonly found on barrier beach dune systems. Those 

 commonly found in these disturbed areas include Saponar ia 

 officinalis (soapwort) , Lepidium virginicum (poor-man's 

 pepper) , Spergularia rubra (sand-spurry) , Euphorbia esula 

 (leafy spurge), Verbascum thapsus (common mullein), 

 Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort) , Solidago spp . 

 (goldenrod) , Asclepias syr iaca (common milkweed) , Mullugo 

 verticillata (carpetweed) , Bromus tectorum (wild oats) , 

 Oenothera biennis (evening primrose), Achillea lanulosa 

 (yarrow). Ambrosia artemisiifolia (ragweed), and 

 Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (white daisy) . 



