142 THE SEA-SHORE 



PLATE XLVIII 

 THE GRASS WRACK (3) 



In one way this is the most curious of all the 

 plants which you may find on the shore. For 

 it is not really a sea-weed at all, but is a flowering 

 plant which somehow or other has taken to 

 living at the bottom of the sea. You may often 

 find it in the deeper pools just above low-water 

 mark; and you can tell it at once by its very 

 long, very narrow, bright green leaves. These 

 leaves are often three or four feet in length, 

 while they are only about three-eighths of an 

 inch wide ; so that really they do look very much 

 like blades of grass. 



The grass wrack is not one of the true grasses, 

 however, for it has real flowers, which grow in 

 a kind of sheath formed by one of the shorter 

 leaves. And its stem creeps along under the 

 muddy sand, and throws up leaves at intervals, 

 very much like that of the common bracken. 

 On many parts of the coast it grows in the 

 greatest abundance. There are large fields of 

 it, so to speak, below low-water mark, which 

 afford refuge for all kinds of small sea-creatures. 

 Indeed, if you want to catch these animals for 

 yourself, the very best way to do it is to wait 

 until the tide is quite low, and then to wade 



