CHAP. LVIII PELOPHILOUS HALOPHYTES .231 



tufted lateral shoots, gives rise to a littoral meadow, whose sward is low, 

 coherent, and dense, or, toward the sea, interrupted. Mingled with 

 Glyceria are other pronounced halophytes, including Triglochin mari- 

 timum, Spergularia marina, Suaeda maritima, Plantago maritima, Aster 

 Tripolium, Glaux maritima, Statice Limonium, also species of Atriplex 

 and Cochlearia : all these in one manner or another show the structure 

 of halophytes. 



Agrostis alba var. stolonifera plays the same role as Glyceria, but 

 especially on more sandy soil. 



Blue-green Algae, diatoms, also species of Rhizoclonium and Vaucheria, 

 are not uncommon in moist saline meadows. 



Higher littoral meadow (juncetum J. Gerardi). As the above-mentioned 

 species occur in greater numbers, and as the soil is gradually raised and 

 becomes drier, Glyceria maritima is suppressed, and the vegetation gives 

 way to that of more elevated littoral meadow, which differs in flora, and 

 whose low, dense vegetation consists essentially of perennial herbs, including 

 grasses. , This meadow cannot be regarded as being of a mesophilous type, as 

 it is associated with a clearly saline soil. It includes, among others, Juncus 

 Gerardi, Plantago maritima, Glaux, Armeria maritima, Trifolium fragi- 

 ferum, Artemisia maritima, as well as the gramineous Hordeum secalinum 

 and Festuca rubra. Representing annual species one finds Lepturus 

 filiformis, Bupleurum tenuissimum, species of Erythraea, and the hemi- 

 parasitic Odontites. Lichens are entirely absent, and mosses are almost 

 or quite so. By diking littoral meadows and thus washing out the salt, 

 and by cultivating the soil, artificial marsh-meadows or ' water-meadows ' 

 are produced. 



Northern salt-meadows do not always commence on clay, but may 

 arise on sand. 1 



The vegetation surrounding salt-springs in the interior of a con- 

 tinent, Europe for instance, differs only slightly from littoral meadow. 

 In Siberia, according to Cajander, near salt-springs meadows are formed 

 by Potentilla anserina, Glaux maritima, Salicornia herbacea, and Glyceria 

 distans. On Hungarian steppes grow many of the same species as on 

 the shores of northern Europe. 2 



On American coasts there also occur littoral meadows which seem 

 to differ materially from the European only in flora. According to 

 Ganong, 3 on the shores of the Bay of Fundy the outermost zone is 

 a spartinetum formed by Spartina stricta ; this is succeeded on the 

 landward side by a belt of Salicornia and Suaeda ; and this passes over 

 into meadow (staticetum) of Statice and Spartina juncea. The salt- 

 meadows of Nebraska are mainly composed of Distichlis spicata stricta. 4 



Here we should probably also place the Salicornia-association of the 

 Upper Andes, which has been described by R. Fries 5 and appears to be 

 widespread. 



Many species and genera growing in saline meadow have remarkably 



1 Warming 1906. 



2 Bernatzky, "1005. The Bohemian salt-meadows are mentioned by T. Domin 

 (1905-0). _ * Ganong, 1903. 



4 Pounds and Clements, 1898 (1900). In regard to North- American littoral 

 meadows see also Harshberger (1900), Hitchcock (1898), and Kearney (1900). 

 ' R. Fries, 1904. 



