THE VEGETATION OF SHACKLEFORD BANK 15 



GENERAL ACCOUNT OF SHACKLEFORD VEGETATION 



The western end of the island presents a sandy shore both to the sea 

 and to the sound. The sand strand vegetation on the sound side is 

 formed of scattered specimens, only a few species being represented. 

 The most characteristic are Spartina patens, Cenchrus tribuloides, and 

 Croton punctatus. About tAventy other species, both annual and per- 

 ennial, occur occasionally or commonly with these. The majority are 

 either halophytic or pronouncedly xerophytic. The vegetation, like 

 that of the outer beach, is desert-like and unattractive. 



Leaving the sound, the strand rises a few feet and passes into the 

 higher ground in the center of the Bank. Here the knolls, of loose 

 sandy texture, are occupied by a thicket vegetation, while in the hollows 

 are swampy areas, with the soil black mud, on which flourishes a luxu- 

 riant' herbaceous vegetation. 



Passing through this area toward the sea one comes on an advancing 

 sand wall, 10 to 20 feet high, which is burying the vegetation at a rapid 

 rate.i On the sandy plateau south of this some cedars still stand, the 

 alburnum eaten away by the driving sand, the heart-wood sound. Some 

 of these trees have been uprooted and lie almost completely buried. 

 Others are upright, the topmost branches alone showing above the sand. 

 On those dead cedars which are not covered by the sand are frequently 

 to be found masses of lianas, their leafy crowns replacing those of the 

 dead trees exactly, so that in the distance the trees seem to be living. 

 One such dead Juniperus bore five lianas, forming a dense mat where 

 the crown of the tree was, and rooting in the sand. The soil "water at 

 this point was 18 inches below the surface and quite fresh. The usual 

 woody vines growing on these outposts of vegetation are Psedera (Par- 

 thenocissus) quinquefolia, Vltis rotundifoUa, Cissus arborea, Rhus ra- 

 dicans, and Berchemia scandens. 



Besides these remnants of a once vigorous forest growth, there are 

 present on the sandy plateau between the thickets and the sea only a 

 few scattered specimens of the species usual on the outer beach. The 

 shifting soil is no doubt responsible for the sparseness of living vegetation 

 in this portion of the island. At one point, near the w^estern end, a few 

 small dunes have been built up by the growth of the sea oats (Uniola.y 

 The dunes are low and dome-shaped. Since they are isolated from one 

 another, they do not form a barrier between the outer sand and the inner 

 thickets, as is the case on the neighboring Bogue Bank.^ They are 

 growing and spreading, however, and in time, if left undisturbed, will 

 afford some protection to the vegetation at this end of the Bank. 



iPigs. 4, 6, 11, 12. 



2Fig. 1. 



'Figs. 2, 3. 



