68 CATALOG OF PLANTS. 



establish themselves and grow. On dunes drouth and sterility must 

 be overcome. Yet when once these beach and sand dune plants are 

 fairly e.stablished, they become vigorous and thrifty, sending out strong 

 and wide-spreading roots deep into the ground, searching far and wide 

 for food stuffs and water. 



The sand dunes of Huron County are in no way comparable in size 

 and height to those on our west coast along Lake Michigan nor to those 

 at Port Franks in Lambton County, Ontario, where they rise to nearly 

 100 feet in height. In Huron County, dunes only in exceptional cases 

 rise to 40 feet above the lake surface. Nor are they being formed 

 at present except in a small way near the shore, while those on the west 

 coast are still forming on an immense scale, invading and covering 

 swamps and destroying forests. The older dunes there are often 

 rejuvenated and blown away exposing the remains of forests formerly 

 covered. 



In discussing the plant covering and plant associations of. the sand 

 region only those of the beaches and dunes will be considered. But 

 the "List of Species" includes those collected in all habitats. (For a 

 detailed discussion of the plant associations see Coons.) 



PLANTS OF THE BEACHES. 



From Sebewaing around to White Rock on the east side of 

 Huron County, the beach varies greatly. Between SebeAvaing 

 and the east end of Sand Point, the water of the bay near 

 shore is shallow, and the beach is partly at least hydrophytic. Out 

 some distance from shore may be found clumps of Scirpus occi- 

 dentalis and Potamogetons. Marshy places and bogs often fringe the 

 immediate shore where are seen in more or less abundance the plants 

 characteristic of such places, Scirpus validus, S. heterochaetus, S. ameri- 

 canus, Typha latifolia and Cicuta hulbifera. At Caseville the beach is 

 Avide, flat and sandy in one place, being often washed by the waves. 

 One plant common there, Triglochin palustris, seems to l^e character- 

 istic of a damp sandy beach, but most species not being able to withstand 

 the attacks of wind and waves seldom come to maturity. At Hat Point, 

 near Port Austin and at Point aux Barc^ues, for short distances, the 

 only beaches are overhanging rocks where the beautiful fern. Poly podium 

 vulgare, is common. 



From Point aux Barques nearly to White Rock, the beach is mostly 

 narrow and sandy. Back of it is a flat strip of ground varying in width 

 from a few rods to a half mile or more, formerly and mostly now covered 

 with timber — beach, maple, white Iwrch. basswood and ash. A bluff 

 borders this flat strip of wooded ground for nearly the entire distance. 

 From Sand Point to Point aux Barques, except where the rock out- 



